Population 18,933,558 (July 1998 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 1996, 63,068 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 30,000-40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West

Age structure
0-14 years: 28% (male 2,673,194; female 2,556,926)
15-64 years: 66% (male 6,126,759; female 6,385,450)
65 years and over: 6% (male 579,329; female 611,900) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate 1.12% (1998 est.)

Birth rate 18.4 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate 5.96 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate -1.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate 16.33 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 72.55 years
male: 69.82 years
female: 75.41 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate 2.12 children born/woman (1998 est.)

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

Ethnic groups 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
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.2%
male: 93.4%
female: 87.2% (1995 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka People 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka People 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.