Sri Lankan diaspora

Sri Lankan diaspora
Total population
2,000,000+ (estimated)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 United Arab Emirates320,000 (2023)[2]
 India184,780 (2021)[3]
 Australia146,950 (2020)[4]
 Qatar145,256 (2016)[5]
 Canada136,240 (2021)[6]
 United Kingdom131,000–400,000 (2021)[7][8]
 Lebanon117,031 (2007)[9]
 Italy108,069 (2022)[10]
 Kuwait99,858 (2016)[11]
 Saudi Arabia84,794 (2022)[12]
 United States75,808 (2022)[13]
 Japan56,179 (2024)[14]
 France52,300 (2017)[15]
  Switzerland28,838 (2019)[16]
 Oman26,268 (2017)[17]
 Germany25,900 (2019)[18]
 South Korea20,239 (2017)[17]
 New Zealand16,830 (2018)[19]
 Norway15,818 (2021)[20]
 Netherlands13,463 (2020)[21]
 Jordan12,582 (2017)[17]
 Denmark11,700 (2017)[22]
 Singapore11,066 (2017)[17]
 Bahrain10,099 (2017)[17]
 Thailand7,931 (2017)[17]
 Cyprus7,350 (2011)[23]
 Sweden7,106 (2017)[17]
 Maldives7,062 (2017)[17]
 Malaysia6,766 (2017)[17]
 China5,554 (2017)[17]
Languages
Sinhala, Tamil, other languages of Sri Lanka and various languages of the countries they inhabit
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Sri Lankan
Populations stated are the maximum estimated
United States population, Foreign born stated only

The Sri Lankan diaspora are Sri Lankan emigrants and expatriates from Sri Lanka that reside in a foreign country.

An estimate in 2013 by the United Nations concluded that the diaspora numbered around three million, with large concentrations in Europe, Middle East, East Asia, Australia and North America. Note that population statistics may not include those that were born outside Sri Lanka or do not hold Sri Lankan citizenship, and large populations of ethnic Tamils and Sinhalese exist outside Sri Lanka which are not covered by this article.[24]

A publication by the Australian National University noted that while most of the diaspora in the Western World and East Asia were long term residents with a large percentage having local citzenship and children born in their host country, most of the diaspora in the Middle East were temporary workers with little roots in said countries; it is near impossible for Sri Lankans to obtain citizenship of Middle Eastern countries.[24][25]

  1. ^ "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country". Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  2. ^ GMI Blogger (1 August 2023). "UAE Population Statistics". Global Media Insight. GLOBAL MEDIA INSIGHT - Dubai Digital Interactive Agency. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Interactive World Migration Report 2022". UNICEF. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Table 5.1 Estimated resident population, by country of birth(a), Australia, as at 30 June, 1996 to 2019(b)(c)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  5. ^ Snoj, Jure (7 February 2017). "Population of Qatar by nationality - 2017 report". priyadsouza.com. priya dsouza. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  6. ^ Statistics Canada (9 February 2022). "Population and Dwelling Count Highlight Tables, 2021 Census". Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Population of the United Kingdom by country of birth and nationality, July 2020 to June 2021". ons.gov.uk. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Sri Lankan diaspora – an extended family? | the Sundaytimes Sri Lanka".
  9. ^ "International Migration Outlook – Sri Lanka 2008" (PDF). International Organization for Migration. 2008. p. 92. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. ^ "2022 - Cingalesi in italia". Tuttitalia Dati Ufficiali ISTAT. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  11. ^ Toumi, Habib (5 October 2016). "7 nationalities make up 90% of foreigners in Kuwait". Gulf News. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Saudi Arabia 2022 Census" (PDF). General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  13. ^ "ASIAN ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH ONE OR MORE OTHER RACES, AND WITH ONE OR MORE ASIAN CATEGORIES FOR SELECTED GROUPS". United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce. 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
  14. ^ "令和６年６月末現在における在留外国人数について" (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Étrangers – Immigrés : pays de naissance et nationalités détaillés". insee.fr (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Foreign permanent resident population by citizenship, 1980-2019". admin.ch. Federal Statistics Office. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division (2017). "Interactive World Migration Report 2022" (Exel). United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Bevölkerung und Erwerbstätigkeit" (PDF). destatis.de (in German). Statistisches Bundesamt. 2019. p. 43. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Sri Lankan ethnic group". stats.govt.nz. Stats NZ. 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents". Statistics Norway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Population; sex, age, origin and generation, 1 January". Statistics Netherlands. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  22. ^ Statistical Yearbook 2017. Denmark: Statistics Denmark. 16 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Preliminary Results of the Census of Population, 2011". Statistical Service. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  24. ^ a b Hugo, Graeme; Dissanayake, Lakshman (7 December 2017), McAuliffe, Marie; Koser, Khalid (eds.), "The process of Sri Lankan migration to Australia focusing on irregular migrants seeking asylum" (PDF), A Long Way to Go: Irregular Migration Patterns, Processes, Drivers and Decision-making (1st ed.), ANU Press, pp. 197–226, doi:10.22459/lwg.12.2017.08, ISBN 978-1-76046-177-5, retrieved 14 May 2024
  25. ^ "Breaking the citizenship taboo in the UAE". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 14 May 2024.