Population: 16,881,130 (July 1989), growth rate 1.5% (1989)

Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1989)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1989)

Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 72 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1989)

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

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

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

Language: Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population

Literacy: 87%

Labor force: 6,600,000; 45.9% agriculture, 13.3% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 28.4% services and other (1985 est.)

Organized labor: about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which are employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka People 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka People 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.