Sri Lanka People - 2004

Population:
19,905,165 (2003 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 yearend 2000, approximately 65,000 were housed in 131 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.8% (male 2,526,143; female 2,414,876)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 6,589,438; female 6,976,487)
65 years and over: 7% (male 655,636; female 742,585) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 29.1 years
male: 28 years
female: 30.1 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.81% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
15.88 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
6.47 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
-1.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 14.78 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 13.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 16.01 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.89 years
male: 70.34 years
female: 75.57 years (2004 est.)

See also: Healthy Life Expectancy

See also: Health Performance

Total fertility rate:
1.88 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
4,800 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
250 (2001 est.)

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

Ethnic groups:
Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%

Religions:
Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)

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