Sri Lanka's People | Sri Lanka People

Population: 20,064,776 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 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.5% (male 2,508,384/female 2,397,986) 15-64 years: 68.4% (male 6,658,765/female 7,059,468) 65 years and over: 7.2% (male 670,813/female 769,360) (2005 est.)

Median age: Total: 29.44 years male: 28.38 years female: 30.51 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.79% (2005 est.)

Death rate: 6.49 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: Total: 14.35 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 73.17 years male: 70.6 years female: 75.86 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.85 children born/woman (2005 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.)

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: 92.3% male: 94.8% female: 90% (2003 est.)

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