Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) People - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Population: 16,638,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 1.8%

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

Ethnic divisions: 74% Sinhalese; 18% Tamil· 7% Moor, 1% Burgher, Malay, and Veddha

Religion: 69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Christian, 8% Muslim, 0.1% other

Language· Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population; Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population

Infant mortality rate: 37/1,000 (1983)

Life expectancy. 68

Literacy: 87%

Labor force: 6 4 million (1984 est.); 45.9% agriculture, 13.3% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 26.3% services and other; extensive underemployment; 12% unemployment (1984)

Organized labor: about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.