| Population: |
21,128,773 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 and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West (July 2008 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 24.1% (male 2,596,463/female 2,495,136) 15-64 years: 68% (male 7,019,446/female 7,340,809) 65 years and over: 7.9% (male 783,823/female 893,096) (2008 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 30.4 years male: 29.5 years female: 31.4 years (2008 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.943% (2008 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 16.63 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Death rate: | 6.07 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -1.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Sex ratio : |
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 19.01 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 74.97 years male: 72.95 years female: 77.08 years (2008 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 2.02 children born/woman (2008 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | less than 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 3,500 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | less than 200 (2003 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A vectorborne disease: dengue fever and malaria water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008) |
| Nationality: | noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan |
| Ethnic groups: | Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data) |
| Religions: | Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data) |
| Languages: | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.7% male: 92.3% female: 89.1% (2001 census) |