Population: 17,838,190 (July 1993 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 1992, nearly 115,000 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 95,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West; fewer than 10,000 Tamils have been successfully repatriated to Sri Lanka

Population growth rate: 1.11% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 18.71 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 5.84 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.13 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions: 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

Labor force: 6.6 million

by occupation: agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)