Population:
21,324,791
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 2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 23.9% (male 2,594,815/female 2,493,002)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,089,307/female 7,418,123)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 803,172/female 926,372) (2009 est.)
Median age:
total: 30.9 years
male: 29.9 years
female: 31.8 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.904% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:
16.26 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:
6.07 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:
urban population: 15% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 0.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 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: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 18.57 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.33 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.14 years
male: 73.08 years
female: 77.28 years (2009 est.)
See also: Healthy Life Expectancy
See also: Health Performance
Total fertility rate:
1.99 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,800 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer 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 chikungunya
water contact disease: leptospirosis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)
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)
Education expenditures:
NA
