PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The Sinhalese people are mostly found in North Central, Central, South and West Sri Lanka which is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean.
They are known to be Theravada Buddhists which means they learn from the Tipitaka, a collection of Pali languages. The Sinhalese believe there is more than one god.
The language the Sinhalese people speak is called Sinhala. About 16 million people speak this language in Sri Lanka out of about 20 million. Other ethnic groups of about 3 million also speak Sinhala. Sinhala has it's own alphabet which is a part of the Brahmic family of scripts. Sinhala is also spoken in places like Australia, Canada, Thailand and the United States.
In Sri Lanka, where the Sinhalese people live, they mostly eat rice, coconut, fish, chicken, beef, pork, goat, vegetables, fruit and chili peppers.
They like to make sculptures, read, dance and write poetry.
Men wear long sleeved shirts with a sarong (sarama) or suits. Women wear tight short sleeved shirts with a cheeththaya or a skirt and blouse.
The Sinhalese traditionally lived in wet areas but have migrated to dry zones. The Sinhalese population is growing at about 1.8 percent per year. A few of the Sinhalese groups that aren't Buddhists are Christian. About 96% of the population over 15 years old can read and write.
