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:

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 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)

Education expenditures - percent of GDP:

NA