People

Srilanka ‘s  population is projected to be around   19 million in  by 2001..with population growth  of about 1.2  year per cent .with a land  area of just over 62000 Km. population density ,at just under 300 people per square kilometer ,is relatively high. The capital, SriLanka  with population estimated at between 800000 and  one million –accounts for  a relatively small proportion of SriLanka’s people.

Around 72 per  cent of SrLankans  are ethnic   Sinhalease, who in turn tend to divide   themselves into  law country dwellers  in the coastal town and lowlands, and the “Kandyan ‘  inhabitant’s  of the hill country. Around 13 per cent  of the population are SrLankan Tamils. Who are descendants of south Indian migrants   who began to arrive in SrLanka as long as 2000 years ago. Their heartland is now the north and east of the country, around   Jaffna  in the north and the Trincommalee  and  Batticaloa on the east coast.

A further 6 per cent of the population are Indian Tamils   , descendants’ of labourers  imported by the British to work in the plantation of the hill country in the 19^th century.

SriLankan’s of Arab  descent locally known as “ Moors”     though their ancestors may have arrived from the gulf status as much as  1000 years ago.- and Malaya  descended  from workers imported from the East Indies by the Dutch and Brtish, account for 8 per cent of the population. ,and the Burger community , the Christian descendants of Porugease and Dutch settlers who intermarried with the Sinhalese, account for a tiny minority of less than  1 per cent.

SriLankans of all ethnic groups are generally extremely   friendly, helpful, and welcoming to visitors in the country.

Tamil and Sinhala are ranked equally   as official language  while Sinhala is the largest language  group  in southern India and the main language of Tamil Nadu., the Indian state to closest  to SriLanka.

Meanwhile English  is still almost    universally spoken by educated people of all communities.

SriLankan’s majority is the religion is the  “austere   Theravada (small vehicle)”  school of Buddhism  imported from India during  the 3^rd century BC.  In 1972 Buddhism was made virtually, a  national  religion ,and acknowledged by the government  as the country’s paramount faith, a move  which disturbed Tamil Hindus  and members of other faith. Hinduism an even older religion ,is the faith of the Tamil minority. while there are significant Muslim and Christian minorities which each account for between  7 and 8 per cent of the population.