Geography—note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
People
Population: 19,144,875 (July 1999 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: 27% (male 2,650,135; female 2,535,092)
15-64 years: 67% (male 6,231,987; female 6,500,782)
65 years and over: 6% (male 592,539; female 634,340) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.1% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 18.16 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 6.02 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 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: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 16.12 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)