Sri
Lanka / Population
Sri Lanka's stands around 18 million with a density
of 270 people per sq km and a growth rate of about
1 .5 %. Adult literacy is over 85 %, life expectancy
at birth 70 and 74 for men and women respectively
(1993 figures) and infant mortality 19 per 1000.
The
74% bulk of the population belongs to the Sinhalese.
They are probably of IndoAryan stock and are documented
as having the first who stepped on the island in the
6th century BC. Broadly, there are two sub groups
of Sinhalese, Kandyan and 'low country'. At 18% Tamils
comprise the second largest group and they can also
be categorised into two groups, the so called Sri
Lanka Tamils descended from the South Indian invaders
of ancient and medieval times and the 'hill country'
Tamils whose ancestors were imported by the British
as tea plantation workers in the 19th century. Muslims
or Moors as they are called constitute about 7% of
the population and they consist mainly of Sri Lanka
Moors who descended from Arab and Indian Muslim traders
during the Portuguese period. Two other minor Muslim
groups are the Malays who came with the Dutch from
Java and the Indian Moors of more recent Indian and
Pakistani trading background.
Amongst
the rest are the Burghers, descendants of the Portuguese
and the Dutch who form a very microscopic minority,
most having moved abroad. The Veddahs who were the
islands original inhabitants are now belongs to a
minority group living in the east.
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