Population: 17,423,736 (July 1991), growth rate 1.2% (1991)

Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate: 21 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)

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

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

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

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: 86% (male 91%, female 81%) age 15 and over can read and write (1981)

Labor force: 6,600,000; agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (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 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka People 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka People 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.