Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.67 years male: 69.89 years female: 75.59 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1999 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.)
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Ceylon
Data code: CE