Sri Lankan Muslims
| இலங்கைச் சோனகர் ලංකා යෝනක |
|
|---|---|
20th century Sri Lankan Moors
|
|
| Total population | |
| 1,869,820 (9.2% of the Sri Lankan population) (2012) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Province | |
 Eastern
|
569,182 |
 Western
|
450,505 |
 North Western
|
260,380 |
 Central
|
252,694 |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (mostly Sunni) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Sri Lankan Moors (Tamil: இலங்கைச் சோனகர், translit. Ilaṅkaic Cōṉakar; Sinhalese: ලංකා යෝනක, translit. Lanka Yonaka; formerly Ceylon Moors; colloquially referred to as Muslims or Moors) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, comprising 9.3% of the country's total population. They are mainly native speakers of the Tamil language with influence of Arabic words, however, some of them use Sinhalese as their native tongue. They are predominantly followers of Islam.
The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka in waves beginning from the 8th century. The population of Moors are the highest in the Ampara, Colombo, Kandy and Trincomalee districts.
The Portuguese named the Muslims in India and Sri Lanka after the Muslim Moors they met in Iberia. The word Moors did not exist in Sri Lanka before the arrival of the Portuguese colonists. The term 'Moor' was chosen because of the Islamic faith of these people, and was not a reflection of their origin.
When the British finally colonized India and Sri Lanka, they introduced the term Ceylon Moors, to disambiguate from the Muslims under their rule in India. After independence was granted to Ceylon and its name was changed to Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Moors, became Sri Lankan Moors, which is the official term used in the English language to refer to this ethnic group today.
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Wikipedia