According to 2007 statistics, the population of Sri Lanka stands at 20,926,315, and the growth rate is 1.00%. The people of Sri Lanka belong to different ethnic and cultural groups.

The absolute majority is constituted by the Sinhalese who are concentrated in the southern, western, central, and north-central parts of the nation. In the rural areas of the Wet Zone lowlands more than 95 % of the population is Sinhalese. Sinhalese make up about 74 percent of the Sri Lankan people. The language they speak is Sinhala, which is the official language, and most people are Buddhists. A small number are Christians (8%). The Sri Lankan Tamils are concentrated in the Jaffna Peninsula and in the nearby districts of the northern lowlands as well as the eastern littorals. They make up about 18 percent of Sri Lankan people. Most of them are Hindu. The Veddhas the Indigenous inhabitants of Sri Lanka preserve a direct line of descendants from the island’s original Neolithic community and have a different culture and dialect of their own.

The culture of Sri Lanka has been influenced by many things in the past. Mostly it has been influenced by religion and colonialization. During domestic instability and frequent forced invasions Sinhalese culture experienced fundamental changes. Experiencing Sri Lanka culture is a life time opportunity, seeing and participating Sri Lankan Festivals is the best way to experience sri Lanka culture, traditions, life and its people.

Coming back to the other ethnic groups, the Muslims consits of 7% - the main concentration of this group occur mainly in the eastern lowlands and southern areas. They form a small but valuable portion of the urban and suburban population in other areas like Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam, and Gampaha. The agglomeration of the Indian Tamils, a majority of whom are plantation workers transported by the British, is in the higher areas of the Central Highlands. Besides, the population also consists of Moors, Burghers and Malays .

Mode of dress – the rural men are dressed in a long cloth wrapped around the waist and a shirt or jacket, but majority of men in the cities and towns wear Western clothes. The women of Sri Lanka are attired in brightly colored saris, or brightly colored cloth wrapped round the hip and jacket but the younger generation in cities sport western clothes . .

Sri Lanka has a very high literacy rate since all governments support free education from kindergarten to University level. There are many Public schools as well as Private schools in all major cities. Schools are found in most every village. Children between the ages of 5 and 12 are required to go to school. The medium of instruction is Sinhala and Tamil , with English as the second Language. Recently English was also added as the medium of instruction The Private schools teach all three languages and any other foreign language/s desired by students But this trend is different in International Schools that have come up like mushrooms Their syllabus and activities are from other schools and all classes are conducted in English.

The population density of Sri Lanka is 289 Per Sq. Km. Average annual growth rate is 1.0 % and the average life expectancy 67.5 years (males 66 years, females 69 years. The population consists of multi ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74%; Tamil 18%; Moor (Muslims) 7%; others (Burghers, Eurasians, Malay, Vaddha) 1%. Largest ethnic group divided into low-country Sinhalese (subjected in coastal areas to a greater colonial acculturation) and Kandyan Sinhalese (more traditional upland dwellers, named after the Kingdom of Kandy, which resisted European encroachments until 1815-18). Tamils divided into Sri Lankan Tamils (on island since early historic times) and Indian Tamils (brought in as plantation labor in the nineteenth century). According to ancient chronicles it is believed, that the Sinhalese (known as Aryans) moved from north India and conquered the island, in the 6th century; Tamils arrived in the 11th century (Ceylon Tamils) settling in the northern and eastern sections of the island; and Arabs came in the 12th and 13th centuries (Ceylon Moors). The British imported more Tamils (Indian Tamils) from south India in the late 19th century to pluck tea on their estates in the central highlands.

The people of Sri Lanka are divided into ethnic groups whose conflicts have dominated public life since the nineteenth century. The two main characteristics that mark a person's ethnic heritage are language and religion, which intersect to create four major ethnic groups--the Sinhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, and the Burghers. Ethnic divisions are not based on race or physical appearance; some Sri Lankans claim to determine the ethnicity of a person by his facial characteristics or color, but in reality it is not. It is the. Historical circumstances that favored one or more of the groups at different times, leading to hostility and competition for political and economic power that has brought about this division. Besides this factor there is nothing in the languages or religious systems in Sri Lanka that officially promotes the social segregation of their adherents.

Sri Lanka is said to have been inhabited by Yakkas (demon-worshippers) , Rakshasas and Nagas (snake-worshippers) before the arrival of Vijaya and his men who colonized the island. They were totemic tribes not supernatural beings. In north-east India there is a state called Nagaland it is so called because to date they worship snakes hence they are known as Naga people.

Rakshasas - (During Ramayana period, rakshasa settlements were present in central India and Srilanka. Rakshasas had their own kingdom under the King Ravana with ‘Lanka city’ as the capital, situated over Nuwara Eliya Hills (6.59 N 95.00 E ) of the present Srilanka. Nearly 80,000 rakshasas headed by Ravana’s two brothers ‘Khara’ and ‘Dhushana’, and Ravana’s sister ‘Surpanakha’, settled in the forests Dandakaranya) of central India. Rakshasas lived up to Mahabharata period, which was nearly 3000 years ago according to some historians. Rakshasas were socalled because of their appearance , strength and the colour of the skin.

Who are Vaddas -Sri Lanka's indigenous inhabitants, the Veddas -- or Wanniya-laeto ('forest-dwellers') as they call themselves -- preserve a direct line of descent from the island's original Neolithic community dating from at least 16,000 BC and probably far earlier according to current scientific opinion.
It is presumed that the word Vadda is either Pali or Sanskrit word ;Vyadha meaning hunter or huntsman.

According to Wilhelm Geiger Vaddas were an aboriginal tribe perhaps related to the ancient tribes of south India. They were inhabitating the island long before the coming of Aryans an had spread all over the island and later confined only to Vadi rata or Maha Vadi rata consisting of areas from Hunnasgiriya hills and lowlands spreading through Mahiyanganaya, Alutnuwara, vellassa, Bintenne, Digamadulla, Vasgamuwa, Dimbilagala, Manampitiya, Nilagala, Toppigala, Panama, Dambana etc. up to the sea in the east. They spoke a non Aryan language a small number of words of which survive up to the present day. With the coming of Aryans gradually they learnt a number of Aryans words and with time words of their own dialect became rare owing to the spread of education and encroachment of civilisation over the areas occupied by them.

Pre Aryans of India would have had some relation to the Veda of Ceylon because some of the religious belief of the pre Aryans such as worship of trees and tree spirits could be traced to the religious beliefs of Veddas. According to another view, Veddas cannot be called aborigines in the strict sense of the word for their physical features reveal a blended character, mixture of Negrito, Australoid and Mediterram ethnic groups. There is some resemblance between the modern Veddas and the jungle tribes of South India. On the other hand stone implements found near caves occupied by Veddas belonging to the latter part of the Stone Age knives, cutters, arrow heads, crystal blades, axes etc. had been used by the primitive people till very recently in Australia and Malaya. In any case there could have been migration from time to time form South India, earlier groups being driven to the inhospitable forested hilly areas. Thus the present day Vaddas must have been a racially mixed type could be easily recognised by mix shy manner, small and long heads with curly hair, dark, thin in stature and with broad nose. .

According to Mahawansa, the two children of Kuveni by Vijaya had fled to the central hills close to Samanala or Adam’s peak after their mother was slain by her kinsfolk. Descendants of these two lived in the central hill region and came to be known as Pulindas, commonly known as barbarous tribes, were most probably meant for Vaddas or Sabaras or Savaras. .

Gypsies or Ahikuntikas, are among the few isolated communities in the country like Vaddahs and Rodiyas, say experts.
Gypsies were always around in Anuradhapura during Poson and Vesak when pilgrims flocked. Their women walked around tunelessly singing their signature song
A community of 25 gypsy families with a population of about 100 persons speaking Thelingu language has encamped on the banks of the Mahakanadarawa tank at Mihintale during the New Year season. Their homes cannot be called houses, huts or tents but something beyond that.