1.1       Population size, growth and density of population

                  The total population of Colombo district is 2,251,274.  The intercensal increase of population between 1981 and 2001 is 552,033 persons or 32.5 percent.  The growth rate of the district is 1.38 percent per annum during the above period.  The highest population is reported from Colombo divisional secretary’s division and it is 380,946.  The population of Padukka divisional secretary’s division is 54,338 and it is the divisional secretary’s division with lowest population. 

1.2Age-Sex composition

                  Age-sex composition of a population describes the pattern of the distribution of people in different age and sex categories.  It is determined by the past trends of fertility, mortality and migration, which are the components of population change.  Figure 1 shows the age pyramid for Colombo district, which shows the distribution of population by 5 year age groups and sex. 

Figure 1:   Age Pyramid

Educational Attainment

      The percentage distribution of population 5 years of age and over by educational attainment is shown in Figure 6. 

Population Statistics by Ethnicity - 2001 Sinhala Sri Lankan Tamil Indian tami Muslim Malay Burgher Sri Lankan Chetty Bharatha Other Total   1,724,459   247,739   24,821   202,731   21,778   15,703   1499   767   11,777   2,251,274

 

 

District Population Statistics by  Religion - 2001 Buddhist Hindu Islam Roman Catalic Other Christian Other 1,578,248 194,743 241,944 181,920 51,334 3,085