Sri Lanka
- Capital:
- Colombo
- Continent:
- Asia
- Region(s):
- Southern Asia, South Central Asia
- Largest Cities:
- Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa
- Abbreviation:
- LKA
* As of 1/8/2026
1 birth
Every 1.7 minutes
1 death
Every 3.1 minutes
1 emigrant
Every 17.1 minutes
1 person
Every 4.5 minutes
64K
100K
250K
500K
Sri Lanka may seem like a small island lying southeast of India. It is growing at a rate of 0.913% annually and houses people from many different ethnicities and religions, which gives the country a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic identity.
Sri Lanka hosts a dynamic age structure that includes a very large age bracket of 25-54 year old individuals dominating the country. Around 42.6% of the population lies in that age bracket. Even though Sri Lanka is a developing economy, such a large working population is allowing it to pursue development projects and create a large number of jobs that can utilized by its inhabitants. This is not only helping many people to support their families, but is also helping Sri Lanka’s economy grow steadily in the last few years.
Moreover, the median age of people in Sri Lanka is estimated to be 31.1 years, with the median age of men being 30.1 years while females have a median age of 32.2 years. Furthermore, Sri Lanka has a high life expectancy of 75.94 years, with a male life expectancy at 72.43 years and female life expectancy at 79.59 years. This is also why 9.1% of the country’s population is in the 54-65 year age bracket, while 8.1% of its population is above the age of 65. An estimate of the number of deaths each year in the Sri Lanka lies at 5.96 deaths per a population of 1000 people.
Sri Lanka is a country of multiple ethnicities, but the two most prominent are the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sinhalese make up around 75% of the total population and are concentrated in the central and southwestern parts of the country. The Tamils make up around 11.9% of the total population and are thus the largest minority present in the country.
Sinhalese (74.9%)
Sri Lankan Tamil (11.2%)
Sri Lankan Moors (9.2%)
Indian Tamil (4.2%)
Other (0.5%)
The main religion in Sri Lanka is Buddhist (official).
Buddhist (official)
Hindu
Muslim
Roman Catholic
Other Christian
Other
The Sinhalese are predominantly Buddhist, and thus it is the major religion in the country, followed by Hinduism, which is actively practiced by the Tamils. The next most popular religion is Christianity, especially among the Burgher population.
The World Happiness Report gives some insight into the quality of life, as well as a couple additional features of living that some might not often think about. Overall, Sri Lanka rates life quality at 4.4, ranking at 116th in comparison to the countries of the world.
In terms of improved drinking water and sanitation access, 95.6% of the population has improved access to drinking water and 95.1% have improved access to sanitation facilities.
The national expenditure of 3.5% GDP on healthcare results in a physician density of .88 per 1,000 individuals and 3.6 beds per 1,000 residents in terms of hospital bed availability.
From the 1500s-1800s Sri Lanka was going from the control of one European country to another, from the Portuguese to the Dutch, to the British. In 1948, Sri Lanka finally got its independence and formed its first government.
The country has seen a couple of cyclones in the 1900s, each which has killed thousands. There were also many civil and religious issues during the 20th century that led to many riots, terrorist attacks, and countless deaths. Unfortunately, this still plagues the country today.
Sri Lanka has had more than its fair share of natural disasters in the 21st century, with flooding in 2003 killing hundreds and leaving thousands homeless, an undersea earthquake in 2004 that killed over 30,000, and flooding that affected millions in 2011.