Population: 18,129,850 (July 1994 est.)
note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of late 1992, nearly 115,000 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 95,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West

Population growth rate: 1.18% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 18.51 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 5.77 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 21.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.9 years
male: 69.37 years
female: 74.55 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.12 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan

Ethnic divisions: Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%

Religions: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%

Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%
note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 88%
male: 93%
female: 84%
Labor force: 6.6 million
by occupation: agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka People 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka People 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.