A profile of Alexandra.

In this article publications on the demography and environmental and health status of Alexandra Township are reviewed and a demographic survey carried out in 1990 is reported. The demographic data presented in the article describe the age, sex and ethnic profile of the population. It also describes the health and disease status, provides some vital statistics, describes the health services and discusses the implications for the development of appropriate health care strategies. Approximately 19% of the population live in informal dwellings or shelters, 14% in the newly upgraded areas and 67% in old Alexandra. Mean household occupancy was 4.04 with a male/female (m/f) ratio of 0.86. It was 3.08 in informal dwellings (m/f = 1.11), 4.30 in the newly upgraded areas (m/f = 0.74) and 4.28 for Old Alex (m/f = 0.82). Old Alex had the highest proportion of inhabitants aged over 60 years. On average females have been resident in Alexandra for 16.8 years and males for 14.9 years.