Sri-lanka Population: 18 933 558 (July 1998 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 late 1996 63 068 were housed in refugee camps in south India another 30 000-40 000 lived outside the Indian camps and more than 200 000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West Age structure: 0-14 years: 28% (male 2 673 194; female 2 556 926) 15-64 years: 66% (male 6 126 759; female 6 385 450) 65 years and over: 6% (male 579 329; female 611 900) (July 1998 est.) Population growth rate: 1.12% (1998 est.) Birth rate: 18.4 births/1 000 population (1998 est.) Death rate: 5.96 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.) Net migration rate: -1.25 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female (1998 est.) Infant mortality rate: 16.33 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.55 years male: 69.82 years female: 75.41 years (1998 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.12 children born/woman (1998 est.) Nationality: noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74% Tamil 18% Moor 7% Burgher Malay and Vedda 1% Religions: Buddhist 69% Hindu 15% Christian 8% Muslim 8% Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74% Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.2% male: 93.4% female: 87.2% (1995 est.)
|