Before we go into root causes of this war, let us see what Sri Lankan population constitutes.

What constitutes Sri Lankan population?

Last official census was in 2001. Next census is currently under progress.
According to 2001 census, Sri Lankan population falls into following categories.

Source: Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka
CIA World Factbook
Document: Number and percentage of population by district and ethnic group 2001


Total population : 16,929,689

1. Sinhalese : 13,876,245 (82.0%)
   
2. Sri Lankan Tamils : 732,149 (4.3%)
3. Indian Tamils : 855,025 (5.1%)
4. Sri Lankan Moor : 1,339,331 (7.9%)
5. Burghur : 35,283 (0.2%)
6. Malay : 54,782 (0.3%)
7. Other : 36,874 (0.2%)