Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka - Statistics

Religions Population % Adherents Ann.Gr.

Buddhist 71.93 13,542,300 +1.1%

Hindu 12.00 2,259,246 -0.6%

Muslim 8.00 1,506,164 +1.2%

Christian 7.62 1,434,622 +2.0%

non-Religious/other 0.20 37,654 +1.0%

Sikh 0.15 28,241 -0.3%

Baha'i 0.10 18,827 +1.0%

Christians Denom. Affil.% ,000 Ann.Gr.

Protestant 20 0.87 164 +3.9%

Independent 41 0.58 109 +20.1%

Anglican 1 0.29 54 +0.7%

Catholic 1 5.58 1,050 +1.2%

Marginal 2 0.04 8 +2.4%

Unaffiliated 0.26 50 n.a.

Churches Denom Cong. Members Affiliates

Catholic C 330 586,592 1,050,000

Assemblies of God P 70 10,000 77,000

Ch of Ceylon A 146 34,000 53,900

Methodist P 143 17,049 28,471

Believers Church (GFA) I 200 9,000 18,000

Ch of South India P 68 5,000 15,165

Foursquare Gospel P 298 6,187 15,000

Gethsemane Gospel I 39 7,500 11,232

Calvary I 60 4,000 8,150

Fell of Free Chs I 18 3,060 8,000

Jehovah's Witnesses M 69 3,171 8,000

Ceylon Pentecostal Mis I 53 4,192 7,000

Seventh-day Adventist P 28 3,252 6,500

Salvation Army P 39 2,900 3,979

Margaya Fellowship I 20 1,700 3,500

Baptist Union P 25 2,200 3,000

Gospel Ministries I 39 1,007 2,750

Other denoms [48] 381 37,000 65,700

Total Christians [65] 2,026 738,000 1,385,000

Groupings pop. % ,000 Ann.Gr.

Evangelical 1.3 236 +11.4%

Charismatic 1.6 305 +6.7%

Pentecostal 0.9 161 +6.3%

Christianity

According to Christian traditions, the Apostle Thomas was active in Sri Lanka as well as southern India during the first century A.D. Small Christian communities existed on the coasts of Sri Lanka during the succeeding centuries, flourishing on the edges of the Indian Ocean trade routes as Islam did in later times. Christianity made significant inroads only after the fifteenth century, as aggressive Portuguese missionary efforts led to many conversions, especially among the Karava and other low-country castes. When the Dutch took control of Sri Lanka, they encouraged their own missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church. Under their patronage, 21 percent of the population in the low country was officially Christian by 1722. The British, in turn, allowed Anglican and other Protestant missionaries to proselytize.

The relative number of Christians in Sri Lanka has declined steadily since the end of colonial rule. In 1900 a reported 378,859 people, or 10.6 percent of the population, were officially Christians. Although in 1980, the number of Christians had increased to 1,283,600, the percentage of Christians in the total population had declined to approximately 8 percent. This decline occurred primarily because the non-Christian population expanded at a faster rate. Emigration abroad, conversions of some Christians to Buddhism and fewer conversions to Christianity among Buddhists, Hindus, or Muslims also were reasons for the decline. In the 1980s, Christians still were concentrated heavily in the low country in the southwest. They comprised 30 percent of the population in Colombo.

Some 88 percent of the Christians were Roman Catholics who traced their religious heritage directly to the Portuguese. The Roman Catholic Church has a well-established organization that encompasses the entire island. In 1985 there were 9 dioceses comprising 313 parishes, 682 priests, and 15 bishops (including two archbishops and a cardinal). The remainder of Christians were almost evenly split between the Anglican Church of Ceylon (with two dioceses) and other Protestant faiths. The Dutch Reformed Church, now the Presbytery of Ceylon, consisted mostly of Burghers, and its numbers were shrinking because of emigration. Other Christian communities--Congregationalists, Methodists, and Baptists--were small in number. Since the 1970s, there has been a movement of all Protestant Churches to join together in a united Church of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Table of Contents

Source: U.S. Library of Congress