Sri Lanka Emigration and Immigration

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Online Sources[edit | edit source]

British Overseas Subject[edit | edit source]

Finding the Town of Origin in Sri Lanka[edit | edit source]

If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Sri Lanka, see Sri Lanka Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Sri Lanka Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country.
Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Immigration into Sri Lanka[edit | edit source]

  • The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka (largely by accident) and then sought to control the island's maritime regions and its lucrative external trade. Part of Sri Lanka became a Portuguese possession. In 1517, the Portuguese built a fort at the port city of Colombo and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas.
  • In 1638, the king signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company to get rid of the Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal areas. The following Dutch–Portuguese War resulted in a Dutch victory. The Dutch remained in the areas they had captured, thereby violating the treaty they had signed in 1638.
  • The Dutch possessions were then taken by the British, who later extended their control over the whole island, colonizing it from 1815 to 1948.
  • A national movement for political independence arose in the early 20th century, and in 1948, Ceylon became a dominion.
  • As of 2017, 40,018 foreign-born people lived in Sri Lanka per United Nations' population division (countries with 1,000 or more):
  • India 10,814
  • Italy 5,107
  • China 2,482
  • Kuwait 1,755
  • United Arab Emirates 1,689
  • Saudi Arabia 1,417
  • Maldives 1,409
  • United Kingdom 1,193

Emigration From Sri Lanka[edit | edit source]

KNOMAD Statistics: Emigrants: 1,780,100. Top destination countries: Saudi Arabia, India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar, Australia, Italy, Germany, the United States [1]

Records of Sri Lankan Emigrants in Their Destination Nations[edit | edit source]

Dark thin font green pin Version 4.png One option is to look for records about the ancestor in the country of destination, the country they immigrated into. See links to Wiki articles about immigration records for major destination countries below. Additional Wiki articles for other destinations can be found at Category:Emigration and Immigration Records.

Saudi Arabia, India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar, Australia, Italy, Germany, the United States

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Sri Lanka", at KNOMAD, the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, https://www.knomad.org/data/migration/emigration?page=22, accessed 6 August 2021.