User:HongjieXie
{Sinhalese People}
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Sri Lanka 15,173,820 (74.88%)(2012)[1] | |
 United Kingdom | ~100,000 (2010)[2] |
 Australia | More than 50,000[3] |
 Italy | 68,738 (2008)[4] |
 Canada | 19,830 (2006)[5] |
 US | 40,000 (2010)[6][unreliable source?] |
 Singapore | 12,000 (1993)[7] |
 Malaysia | 10,000 (2009)[8] |
 New Zealand | 7,257 (2006)[9] |
 India | At least 3,500[10][11] |
| Languages | |
| Sinhala, English | |
| Religion | |
 Theravada Buddhist majority •  Christian/Catholic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sri Lankan people, Indo-Aryans, Bengali people, Vedda people, Tamil people, Gujarati people | |
The Sinhalese (Sinhala: සිංහල ජාතිය Sinhala Jathiya, also known as Hela or Sinhale) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka.[12] They constitute 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 15 million.[1] The Sinhalese identity is based on language, historical heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists,[13] although a small percentage of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity. The Sinhalese are mostly found in North central, Central, South, and West Sri Lanka. According to Mahavamsa, an ancient treatise written in Pali, the Sinhalese are the descendants of settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura in India, led by Prince Vijaya.[14]
Modern genetic investigations suggest that the Sinhalese are most closely related to the Bengali people. However, the original hunter - gatherer inhabitants of Sri Lanka, also called "Vedda" or "Vanniya-Laeto" predate them.
- ^ a b "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
- ^ Nihal Jayasinghe. (2010). Letter to William Hague MP. Available: http://www.slhclondon.org/news/Letter%20to%20Mr%20William%20Hague,%20MP.pdf Last accessed 3 September 2010.
- ^ Australian Government. (2008). Population of Australia. Available: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/poa-2008.pdf. Last accessed 3 March 2008. The People of Australia - Statistics from the 2006 Census
- ^ Italian Government. (2008). Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Available: http://demo.istat.it/str2008/index.html. Last accessed 3 March 2009.
- ^ http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=837928&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=89189&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2006&THEME=70&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=
- ^ http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14196/US
- ^ http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=sin
- ^ Stuart Michael. (2009). A traditional Sinhalese affair. Available: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/11/11/central/5069773&sec=central. Last accessed 3 March 2010.
- ^ http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sri-lankans/3
- ^ http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=109305&rog3=IN
- ^ http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=IN&sf=primarylanguagename&so=asc
- ^ Sinhala Aryans Source-2 (Britannica)
- ^ Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/
- ^ John M. Senaveratna (1997). The story of the Sinhalese from the most ancient times up to the end of "the Mahavansa" or Great dynasty. Asian Educational Services. pp. 7–22. ISBN 978-81-206-1271-6.