Papers
of the
East-West
P o p u l a t i o n Institute
No. 7 5
Regional
patterns
of intercensal
and lifetime
migration
in Sri Lanka
Dayalal Abeysekera
East-West Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
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Regional
patterns
of intercensal
and lifetime
migration
in Sri Lanka
Dayalal Abeysekera
Number 75 • September 1981
PAPERS OF THE EAST-WEST POPULATION INSTITUTE
D A Y A L A L A B E Y S E K E R A is a Lecturer in the
Demographic
T r a i n i n g and Research U n i t of the University of C o l o m b o .
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Abeysekera, Dayalal Senerat, 1948Regional patterns of intercensal and lifetime migration in Sri Lanka.
(Papers of the East-West Population Institute ;
no. 75)
Bibliography: p.
I. Migration, Internal-Sri Lanka. 1. Title. II. Series.
HB2096.8.A3A23
304.8'2 095493
81-12540
AACR2
,
CONTENTS
Preface
Abstract
v
1
Migrant population o f Sri L a n k a , 1 9 4 6 - 7 1
6
Trends in rates of natural increase and net migration
Age and sex ratios of migrants
/7
Lifetime migration, 1946 and 1953
Lifetime migration, 1971
C o n c l u d i n g remarks
15
19
22
41
A p p e n d i x 1 Population schedule: Census of Sri L a n k a , 1971
A p p e n d i x 2 Tree diagram indicating the method of selecting
different types of lifetime migrants f r o m 1971
census data
44
References
45
iv
T A B L E S . MAPS, A N D FIGURES
Tables
1 Percentage distribution of Sri Lanka-bom migrant population: Sri Lanka,
1946-63
6
2 Net interregional migration estimates obtained by three methods: Sri Lanka,
1946-53
8
3 Estimates of net interregional migration obtained by two methods: Sri Lanka,
1953-63
9
4 Direction and intensity of interdistrict migration: Sri Lanka, 1953-63
12
5 Intercensal rates of natural increase and net migration per thousand: Sri Lanka,
1946-71
16
6 Sex ratios of lifetime migrants, nonmigrants, and Sri Lanka-born population:
Sri Lanka, 1946-63
17
7 Percentage distribution and sex ratios of lifetime migrants by five-year age
groups: Sri Lanka, 1963
18
8 Percentage distribution of rural/urban destinations of urban-born lifetime
migrants by district: Sri Lanka, 1946
20
9 Percentage distribution of rural/urban destinations of urban-born lifetime
migrants by district: Sri Lanka, 1953
21
10 Number and percentage of migrant categories estimated from 10 percent
sample census tape: Sri Lanka, 1971
24
11 Direction and intensity of interregional lifetime migration in Sri Lanka:
1971
25
12 Direction and intensity of lifetime migration: Sri Lanka, 1971
28
13 Percentage distribution of lifetime migrant streams to selected destinations by
district of origin: Sri Lanka, 1971
30
14 Sex ratios and percentage distributions of selected lifetime migrant streams and
nonmigrants by age and sex: Sri Lanka, 1971
34
15 "Standardized" age-sex-specific selectivity of lifetime migrants by selected
destinations: Sri Lanka, 1971
37
Maps
1 New district boundaries: Sri Lanka, 1953—63
3
2 Regional groupings by district: Sri Lanka, 1971
3 Retentive attractiveness by region: Sri Lanka, 1971
4
5
Figures
1 Age-specific sex ratios of lifetime migrants by selected destinations: Sri Lanka,
1971
36
2 "Standardized" age-specific selectivity pattern of male lifetime migrants by
selected destinations: Sri Lanka, 1971
38
3 "Standardized" age-specific selectivity pattern of female lifetime migrants by
selected destinations: Sri Lanka, 1971
39
V
PREFACE
I am most grateful to Professors Sidney Goldstein and Alden
Speare, Jr., for having made many valuable comments on an
earlier draft o f this paper. I also gratefully acknowledge the
financial support of the Ford Foundation in the form of a
Traineeship in Demography, which enabled me to work toward
completion of my doctoral degree in sociology at Brown University. This paper is dedicated to A j i t h and D i l i n i , my brother
and sister, who shouldered a disproportionate share of.the
household chores while I was away, reading for the degree:
ABSTRACT
This paper draws on published census data
to.examine
regional patterns of intercensal migration in Sri Lanka between
1946
and 1971 and on a 10 percent national sample from the 1971
census
to examine patterns of lifetime migration. Two dominant
migration
streams are observed, one to Colombo District containing the capital
city, and the other to rural areas of several districts in the dry zone.
The latter is a result of the government's
investment
in peasant agriculture, and the close relationship
between the availability of new
land and increased migration is demonstrated.
Although Colombo is
the most attractive destination for in-migrants, the rural dry zone as a
unit retains the largest proportion
of the gross migrant turnover.
The
other regions, consisting of the maritime districts, the kandyan (hillcountry) districts, and Jaffna, have all lost parts of their
populations
to the two dominant destinations,
with maritime district migrants going mainly to Colombo, and kandyan district and Jaffna migrants going mainly to the rural dry zone.
Slightly over one half of lifetime migrants have moved into rural locations outside the dry zone. Urban Colombo,
the rural dry zone, and
other urban areas of the country jointly account for the remaining migrants in equitable proportions.
Over two thirds of the gross
turnover
of lifetime migrants reside in rural Sri Lanka.
This paper assesses the regional pattern of lifetime migration in Sri
Lanka during the last three intercensal periods, from 1946 to 1971, by
documenting the volume and direction of interdistrict migration in Sri
L a n k a ; contrasting two dominant streams of migration, one to urban
C o l o m b o and the other to the rural dry z o n e ; and identifying basic
age-sex characteristics o f four streams of lifetime migrants f r o m the
1971 census data whose destinations were urban C o l o m b o , the rural
dry zone, " o t h e r u r b a n " areas, and " o t h e r r u r a l " areas. The purpose is
to demonstrate that there was a very significant migration stream to
the rural dry zone. Given the centrality of public policy considerations
(Abeysekera, 1979), it is important to study the determinants and
consequences of this migration in greater detail, using a survey approach.
Information on place of birth was collected in all censuses o f Sri
L a n k a , but it was cross-classified by place of residence and published
2
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
for the first time only in 1946. Since then there have been three intercensal periods providing data on internal migration.
Before turning to a detailed discussion of migration, one should
note changes that have occurred i n the number of districts o f Sri
Lanka (see Map 1). A t the turn of the century, Sri Lanka's nine provinces had 20 districts. A t the time of the 1971 census there were 22
districts. Comparability over time can easily be established. T h e
changes took place between 1953 and 1963, when the districts o f
Puttalam and C h i l a w were consolidated and another three districts
(Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, and Badulla) were divided to f o r m six
districts. The newly created districts were A m p a r a i , P o l o n n a r u w a , and
Monaragala. Thus the 19 districts that are comparable over time are
Puttalam and C h i l a w , Batticaloa and A m p a r a i , Anuradhapura and
Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Monaragala, and the other 15 districts
whose boundaries remained unchanged. Regional-level data presented
in this paper are comparable over time because they reflect these
boundary changes.
The districts of Sri L a n k a have been classified into various regional
groupings based on somewhat different criteria (see Department of
Census and Statistics, 1973; E S C A P , 1975; World Fertility Survey,
1978). The regional classification I have adopted in this paper depicts
the migrants' districts of destination and origin within the broader
framework of agroclimatic topography (Map 2). Sri L a n k a has two
dominant internal migration streams, one to C o l o m b o District, which
contains the capital city (region A , Map 3), and the other to districts
in the rural dry zone (region E ) , where the government has invested
heavily in peasant agriculture (Abeysekera, 1979). A c c o r d i n g l y , these
two areas are treated as two regions in this paper. Three other regions
consist o f the maritime districts of the wet zone (region B), the
kandyan (hill-country) districts of the wet zone (region C ) , and Jaffna
District (region D) in the extreme north o f the dry zone.
The maritime districts are the most developed areas of the c o u n t r y ,
having been exposed to Western influences since the early sixteenth
century. They include Kalutara, Galle, Matara, and P u t t a l a m / C h i l a w
(which is actually situated in the intermediate zone). The kandyan
districts are less developed and have had less exposure to Western influence; they also contain the nation's tea plantations. Furthermore,
the maritime districts are inhabited predominantly by the low-country
Sinhalese, whereas the kandyan districts are the home of the kandyan
3
Introduction
M A P 1 N e w district boundaries: Sri L a n k a , 1953—63
Boundaries created f o r new
districts between 1953 and 1963
Puttalam and Chilaw into Puttalam;
Batticaloa into Batticaloa and Amparai;
Badulla into Badulla and Moneragala;
Anuradhapura into Anuradhapura and
Polonnaruwa
S O U R C E : E S C A P (1975:17).
4
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
M A P 2 Regional groupings by district: Sri L a n k a , 1971
in Sri
Lanka
S O U R C E : Table 11.
6
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri Lanka
Sinhalese along with the South Indian T a m i l laborer population that
was imported by the British to run the plantations. F o l l o w i n g the
reasoning o f E S C A P ( 1 9 7 5 : 1 6 ) , I have classified Jaffna District separately because " h i s t o r i c , ethnic and other considerations have produced a special c o m b i n a t i o n o f demographic and agricultural factors
that deserve to be treated separately." U n l i k e most o f the districts in
the rest of the dry z o n e , Jaffna has been a district of net out-migration
since 1946.
MIGRANT POPULATION
O F SRI L A N K A ,
1946-71
Relatively little information is available on the proportion o f the i m mobile population in comparison with its migrating counterparts. Data
presented in Table I reveal that in 1946, 12.4 percent o f the S r i Lankaborn population were living outside their district o f birth. T h i s points
to the overwhelming magnitude of the population that has never left
its district of birth for residential purposes. Barring the incidence o f
heavy emigration from Sri Lanka, it would indicate a large immobile
population when spatial mobility is s y n o n y m o u s with crossing district
boundaries for residential purposes. More males migrated than females.
A l t h o u g h male migration tends to be the norm within the Indian subcontinent (Visaria, 1969; Zachariah, 1966), other Asian countries have
revealed female dominance in urban-bound migration (Hendershot,
1 9 7 1 ; T U R A , 1976).
By the census o f 1953, the lifetime mobility o f the population had
slightly increased; 14 percent o f the Sri Lanka-born population were
living outside their district of birth. By 1963, the figure had reached
15.8 percent.
T A B L E 1 Percentage distribution of Sri Lanka-born migrant populat i o n ; Sri L a n k a , 1 9 4 6 - 6 3
Migrant population
1946
1953
1963
Total
Male
Female
Urban areas
Rural areas
12.4
14.1
10.6
u
u
14.0
u
u
u
u
15.8
u
u
23.4
14.0
u—unavailable.
S O U R C E S : Department of Census and Statistics (1951: table 4 2 ; 1958: table 10; 1967:
table 12).
Migrant Population
of Sri Lanka,
1946— 71
7
C o m p u t a t i o n s from Table 18 of the Census of Population 1971,
Preliminary Report, yield a figure of 15.2 percent for lifetime migrants, reflecting a 0.6 percent drop from the 1963 figure. T w o explanations may be hazarded for this apparent reversal.
First, the instructions given to census enumerators for probing for
place of birth and district of enumeration at the previous census may
have been different in 1971 from those given to enumerators in 1963.
Such an inconsistency could have affected the census results in districts that had undergone boundary changes between 1953 and 1963.
If the enumeration was conducted somewhat mechanically in 1963
but greater caution was exercised in 1971, misclassification of actual
nonmigrants as migrants may have occurred in 1963 in the three
newly created districts of A m p a r a i , Monaragala, and Polonnaruwa.
Some evidence is available to indicate that this actually happened.
During the 1 9 6 3 - 7 1 intercensal period, increases of from 6.5 to 14.0
percentage points were recorded in the nonmigrant population of
these districts. These could have been due to the natural increase of
the nonmigrant population o f the districts. However, annual growth
rates of 4.2 percent (Amparai), 6.3 percent (Monaragala), and 8.4 percent (Polonnaruwa) could not have possibly been achieved through
natural increase, especially as the national annual growth rate during
this period was 2.1 percent. Perhaps the " t r u e " proportion o f interdistrict migrants in 1963 was between 14.0 and 15.2 percent.
A second possible explanation is that between 1963 and 1971 there
was increased return migration (perhaps due to the government's welfare policies which focused on the rural peasantry) and more people
were found in their place o f birth, making them nonmigrants in a
"place o f birth by place of e n u m e r a t i o n " classification. But as an analysis of the 1971 sample census tapes revealed that only 1 percent of
the population consisted of return migrants, this possibility seems remote. Thus, misclassification of nonmigrants as migrants in 1963 is
the plausible explanation for the apparent reversal.
Intercensal period of 1946—53
T w o studies have been conducted on the volume and pattern o f migration during the 1946—53 intercensal period. Vamathevan (1961)
has done the most extensive work, using the vital statistics m e t h o d ,
the forward survival ratio method, and place of birth data for the
analysis of the census information. Abhayaratne and Jayewardene
Intercensal
8
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri Lanka
(1965) have complemented the Vamathevan study by analyzing the
census data with an index of attraction used as " a measure o f the
selective popularity o f an area as the destination o f a migratory m o v e "
( E S C A P , 1976:49).
Table 2 is derived f r o m the data presented in Vamathevan's (1961)
table 1, which provides net interdistrict migration estimates obtained
from the three methods mentioned above. The data in Table 2 are
collapsed into five " r e g i o n s " based mainly o n the wet and dry zone
d i c h o t o m y so that the two dominant destinations are brought into
sharper focus.
The fairly large variation in the magnitude o f net migration estimates arrived at by the three methods, as well as some changes in d i rection, calls for caution in interpreting the data. The variability o f
results may not be due entirely to the methodologies used. The c o m b i nation o f several districts into one region has the effect o f diluting o r
even distorting the net estimates. F o r the more detailed table containing the estimates o n a district by district basis, see the original table 1
o f Vamathevan (1961).
In spite o f the variability, all diree estimates point unmistakably to
the net in-migration areas, which are the dry zone districts and
C o l o m b o District. In all three estimates, the dry zone has had a larger
volume of migrants than C o l o m b o . T h e maritime districts, the kandyan
T A B L E 2 Net interregional migration estimates obtained by three
methods: Sri Lanka, 1 9 4 6 - 5 3
Region
Colombo District (wet zone)
Maritime districts (wet zone)
Kandyan districts (wet zonc)
Jaffna District (dry zonc)
Dry zone districts^
3
c
b
Survival
ratio (SR)
Place of
Vital statistics (VS) birth
50,153
-38,384
42,011
-35,790
33
-7,089
86,584
-41,423
1,662
67,509
13,438
-29,959
-33,005
-14,237
64,481
Average of
SR + VS
46,100
-36,800
-20,700
-2,700
76,900
a
Include Kalutara, Galle, Matara, and Puttalam/Chilaw Districts.
b
Include K a n d y , Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kcgallc, Badulla/Monaragala, Ralnapura, and
Kurunegala Districts.
c
Jaffna " . . . has been classified separately as the historic, ethnic and other conditions have
produced a special combination of demographic and agricultural factors that deserve to
be treated separately" ( E S C A P , 1975:16).
d
Include H a m b a n i o i a , Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa/Amparai, Trincomalee, and
Anuradhapura/Polonnaruwa Districts.
S O U R C E : Based on Vamathevan (1961: table 1).
Migrant
Population
of Sri Lanka,
1946-71
9
districts, and Jaffna District have been losing population to the t w o
major destinations. The nonavailability of district o f birth by district
o f residence data for this intercensal period does not allow an assessment of interregional flows o f migrants. However, it is expected that
the majority o f migrants from the maritime districts would have gone
to C o l o m b o whereas the majority o f out-migrants from the kandyan
districts would have gone to the dry zone. This expectation is based
on the fact that most o f the maritime districts were exposed to Western influences (since the Portuguese conquest in the sixteenth century), and they were consequently the more developed areas o f the
country with better educational facilities. The kandyan districts, on
the other hand, had minimal exposure to Western influence, and were
increasingly marginalized by the enactment o f the C r o w n Lands E n croachment Ordinance o f 1840, which effectively deprived the
kandyan peasantry o f their traditional highlands (Abeysekera, 1979).
A c c o r d i n g l y , the kandyan peasants were favored as colonists o f the
dry zone, as was recommended in the Kandyan Peasantry C o m m i s s i o n
Report.
Intercensal period of 1 9 5 3 - 6 3
Estimates o f net migration made by the Marga Institute ( 1 9 7 5 ) using
the vital statistics m e t h o d and the place o f birth method as shown in
Table 3 differ in most regions. This is not surprising given the difference in data sets and the procedures involved in analyzing them. Once
again the directions o f net migration flows are consistent for both
methods. T h e largest single discrepancy in the volume of migration is
found in C o l o m b o , where the vital statistics method indicates a gain
o f 21,123 migrants to the district whereas the place of birth method
T A B L E 3 Estimates of net interregional migration obtained by t w o
methods: Sri Lanka, 1953—63
Region
Vital statistics
Place of birth
Colombo District (wet zone)
Maritime districts (wet zone)
Kandyan districts (wet zone)
Jaffna District (dry zone)
21,123
-86,859
-148,408
-14,513
97,492
59,643
-40,120
-11 5,668
-6,941
100,798
Dry zone districts
S O U R C E : Based on Marga Institute (1975); reproduced in E S C A P (1976: table 31).
10
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
more than doubles that number. The estimates obtained from the
place of birth method may be preferable to the vital statistics estimates because the former method involves only census enumeration
errors whereas the latter method may also encompass vital registration
errors. Especially important here is that only the place of birth method
is capable of identifying streams of interdistrict migrants.
A comparison of Tables 2 and 3 shows that the volume o f migration
to the dry zone increased during the intercensal decade o f 1953—63.
Both estimation methods reveal that at least twice as many migrants
went to the dry zone as went to C o l o m b o . The magnitudes o f the estimates derived from the two methods vary greatly when both the
1946—53 and the 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 intercensal periods are considered. The
vital statistics method shows that C o l o m b o ' s flow of migrants during
1953—63 was almost half of that of the preceding period, whereas
there was a small increase in the stream bound for the dry zone. In
contrast, the place of birth method indicates that the volume of m i grants settling in C o l o m b o increased over fourfold from 1 9 4 6 - 5 3 to
1953—63 and that net migration to the dry zone had less than d o u bled.
B o t h methods are in agreement in revealing that the kandyan districts lost the largest population during 1953—63. Since this was the
period when the alienation o f new land under the colonization program peaked ( E S C A P , 1975), the loss o f a large proportion o f the
kandyan population coinciding with the peaking of the land alienation
program discloses circumstantially that the recruitment o f kandyan
peasantry was favored for resettlement in the colonization program.
Using more or less the same regional classification, Richards (1971)
has also estimated that of all the migrants originating from the three
declining regions o f the low-country (the districts o f Kalutara, Galle,
Matara, and Puttalam), the hill-country ( K a n d y , Nuwara E l i y a ,
Kegalle, Matale, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, and Badulla), and J a f f n a , just
over one-third moved into C o l o m b o District whereas almost twothirds settled in the dry zone districts (see Map 1). Thus there appear
to have developed two dominant interregional migration streams, one
toward C o l o m b o and the other toward the dry zone. The latter was
the more voluminous stream during the 1953—63 intercensal decade.
A n index o f attraction (I. A . ) for the period has been calculated by
the Marga Institute (1975) and is reproduced in Table 4. C o l o m b o was
by far the most attractive single district for migrants (I. A . = 23.3),
Migrant
Population
of Sri Lanka,
1946-71
although two-thirds o f the migrants moved to the dry zone, which is
composed of six districts. Anuradhapura was able to retain its second
ranking during this period (I.A. = 12.0); the third and fourth places
were taken by Batticaloa and K a n d y , respectively.
The largest relative bilateral stream during 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 was recorded
from Matale to Anuradhapura. It accounted for 47.8 percent o f all m i grants originating from Matale. The next two largest population transfers were between Ratnapura and C o l o m b o (46.4 percent) and between
contiguous Kalutara and C o l o m b o (43.8 percent), C o l o m b o being the
beneficiary in both instances. C o l o m b o District had two other major
gains, attracting almost one-third o f the migrants from the southern
maritime districts of Galle (32.9 percent) and Matara (31.1 percent).
The other notable transfers of population were between four sets o f
contiguous districts, viz., from Puttalam to Kurunegala (33.3 percent),
from Hambantota to Ratnapura (32.4 percent), from N u w a r a E l i y a to
K a n d y (30.6 percent), and from Jaffna to V a v u n i y a (30.4 percent).
The largest proportion of out-migrants f r o m . C o l o m b o to settle in
another district during 1953—63, one-fifth, migrated to A n u r a d h a p u r a ;
the second largest, 19.6 percent, moved to the adjacently situated
Kalutara District. Conversely, just over one-eighth o f all migrants from
Anuradhapura went to C o l o m b o ; the population transfer resulted in
Anuradhapura gaining 2,440 people.
In the population transfer between the two dominant destinations
( C o l o m b o and the dry zone) during 1953—63, 5,593 people, o r 17.1
percent of the outmigrants from the dry zone districts (including
Jaffna), moved into C o l o m b o . Conversely, 6,417 people, or 36.4 percent o f out-migrants from C o l o m b o , settled in the dry zone. In absolute numbers the population transfer resulted i n an insignificant net
gain o f fewer than one thousand inhabitants by the dry zone districts.
In relative terms, however, these figures substantiate the dominant
pattern from C o l o m b o to the dry districts during the intercensal
period.
This relative differential is somewhat colored by the presence of
Jaffna District in the dry zone. Jaffna is atypical of the dry zone districts in migration pattern, although it does belong agroclimatically in
the dry zone. In addition, the population of Jaffna is above average in
education and is definitely above average in English education, w h i c h
is perhaps die single most significant positive covariant with success in
securing modern-sector employment. F o r these reasons, 1 eliminated
12
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri Lanka
T A B L E 4 Direction and intensity of interdistrict migration: Sri L a n k a ,
Destination (%)
Colombo
Origin
Kalu- .
lara
A
Kandy
Matale
Nuwara
Eliya
Gallc
-
HambanMalara
lola
Colombo
_
19.62
3.37
0.14
5.00
1.17
1.21
Kalutara
43.76
-
1.40
0.82
0.29
15.21
1.99
0.87
Kandy
19.26
1.34
-
6.56
14.32
0.77
1.28
0.36
Matale
8.45
0.61
19.01
5.10
0.85
0.41
Nuwara Eliya
11.16
0.19
30.64
0.82
0.71
Gallc
32.94
15.27
Malara
31.06
1.43
2.20
0.86
0.35
0.35
1.69
3.32
20.66
3.47
0.21
0.75
0.25
-
9.50
Hambantota
-
-
0.31
-
--
0.87
0.43
0.01
13.09
14.75
-
-
0.09
2.77
17.98
-
)affna
24.77
Mannar
24.13
0.58
11.96
0.51
0.83
0.87
0.18
1.16
Vavuniya
10.81
0.57
2.74
0.66
0.17
0.54
0.37
.0.09
-
Batticaloa
19.55
2.52
6.60
1.51
1.16
1.77
0.69
Trincomalee
22.34
1.45
7.68
1.52
1.23
1.32
1.46
0.25
Kuruncgala
22.19
1.31
6.74
3.60
3.00
0.61
0.72
0.15
Puttalam
29.24
1.75
1.88
0.22
0.55
0.68
0.29
0.33
Anuradhapura
12.95
2.34
1.94
8.37
1.42
1.69
1.78
0.32
Badulla
23.71
2.02
13.83
1.00
6.74
2.25
2.35
2.01
Ratnapura
46.36
8.08
2.35
0.06
1.38
3.11
5.99
1.10
Kegalle
27.73
3.19
12.78
1.49
1.35
1.69
0.98
0.25
419.91
63. J 3
128.94
26.99
41.37
55.50
54.12
28.94
7.17
1.50
2.30
3.08
3.01
1.61
Total
Index of a t t r a c t i o n
a
3
23.32
3.51
Index o f attraction is the sum of proportions arriving in a district (vertical column) divided
S O U R C E : Marga Institute, A Comparative
Study
of Population
and Agricultural
Change in Sri
Jaffna District from the dry zone districts and performed the same
calculations as with the absolute and relative population transfers between C o l o m b o and the dry zone. T h e result was a sharp drop in the
total emigrating population from the dry zone, from 32,704 to
19,157, during the intercensal period, and a decline in the n u m b e r o f
in-migrants to C o l o m b o from 5,593 to 2,237, which is more than
half. T h e percentage migrating into C o l o m b o dropped 5.4 percentage
points to 117 percent. Correspondingly, the emigrant population
from C o l o m b o to the dry zone did not change substantially when
Jaffna was eliminated from the dry z o n e ; the number declined by only
Migrant
Population
of Sri Lanka,
13
1946-71
1953-63
Jaffna
VavuMannar niya
Batticaloa
Trincomalec
K u rune- Puttagal a
lam
_
Anuradhapura Badulla
Ratnapura"
Kegalle
1.55
0.84
2.23
5.58
7.21
13.49
19.99
3.06
5.31
10.14
0.28
0.12
1.49
7.45
1.56
3.13
0.88
7.00
3.03
10.30
0.44
2.13
0.61
2.30
6.38
3.59
6.76
1.36
23.1 3
4.10
0.22
5.53
1.99
0.34
2.36
1.23
1.69
7.08
0.59
47.82
0.65
0.69
1.04
2.30
0.37
1.39
2.05
12.99
0.49
0.42
3.51
27.04
3.88
1.63
0.20
1.03
10.04
1.21
2.05
1.90
10.91
2.92
3.51
0.34
0.07
.0.33
7.76
3.60
1.29
0.61
4.74
6.21
7.33
0.10
0.23
9.59
5.71
0.70
0.23
1.55
12.55
32.41
30.42
12.86
11.31
18.80
8.66
3.88
4.28
2.68
-
3.54
5.39
2.94
3.54
8.32
3.78
2.69
8.54
0.96
0.48
-
10.33
2.72
-
0.34
-
2.82.
0.08
4.24
2.14
0.83
0.47
29.92
1.83
6.71
0.77
3.4 5
22.91
1.57
2.07
2.14
13.34
1.39
0.25
0.89
18.40
21.32
1.74
1.09
9.71
7.24
3.08
0.64
0.68
1.40
3.32
8.07
1.30
13.80
-
15.58
13.84
12.56
2.08
6.79
-
9.61
3.02
5.18
18.41
0.34
0.40
1.17
3.34
4.15
-
6.38
0.29
8.53
3.49
1.52
33.27
9.65
3.20
18.86
3.47
11.44
12.81
3.25
8.40
0.41
0.99
20.65
1.10
1.08
0.85
3.96
0.97
0.42
1.14
5.41
1.16
1.68
1.12
2.49.
3.46
0.44
0.26
0.85
11.80
1.28
9.59
1.46
12.26
4.86
7.76
87.42
36.10
104.09
141.71
87.11
99.4 7
58.33
216.88
105.59
92.05
40.24
4.86
2.04
5.78
7.87
4.84
5.53
3.24
12.02
5.87
5.11
2.24
-
-
-
1.80
-
-
1.37
-
by the number of potential districts of origin.
=
Lanka,
Report prepared for the E S C A P Population Division. Reproduced in E S C A P (1976:53).
273 persons, indicating only minimal migration from C o l o m b o to
Jaffna. T h e relative proportions migrating from C o l o m b o to the dry
zone also remained comparatively stable at 35.4 percent, but the c o m parison of the relative transfer o f population between C o l o m b o and
the dry zone showed a remarkable differential, 11.7 to 35.4 percent.
When the two dominant destinations were compared for relative share
o f the gross interchange, the dry zone attracted about three-quarters
of the transfer (73.3 percent), whereas C o l o m b o attracted o n l y about
one-quarter (26.7 percent). When these figures are juxtaposed with
Richards's (1971) observations, it becomes evident that C o l o m b o was
14
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
relatively more successful in attracting migrants from the three losing
locations (low-country, hill-country, and Jaffna) than in attracting
them directly from its competing destination, the dry zone.
The migration figures may also be examined in the light o f the
government's activities relating to agricultural development. The intercensal decade of 1953—63 was the peak period for opening up new
land for paddy cultivation. The total cultivated area in Sri L a n k a rose
from 423,637 to 632,088 hectares, an increase of 49.2 percent
( E S C A P , 1 9 7 5 : 4 9 - 5 1); the increase in the dry zone districts was
118.2 percent, whereas the combined increase in all other districts
was only 21.4 percent. (The southwestern maritime group o f districts,
viz., C o l o m b o , Kalutara, Galle, and Matara, actually sustained a slight
decline in land cultivated.) During the same period, the areas used for
cultivating the other major agricultural crops remained relatively unaltered; tea increased by 4.2 percent, rubber declined by 14.8 percent,
and coconut increased by 4.6 percent. These relative performances
indicate that during the period the only noteworthy expansion was in
paddy cultivation, and it was concentrated mostly in the dry zone.
This shows the efficacy of the government's effort to attract almost
three-quarters o f the out-migrants from the gross transfer of migrants
between C o l o m b o and the dry zone as well as two-thirds o f all migrants from the rest o f the country.
Set against the background o f the pattern of urbanization sketched
elsewhere (Abeysekera, 1980), the reason for the decline in urban
growth after 1953 becomes more evident from the above migration
figures..
Intercensal period of 1963—71
The same pattern of migration that was observed during the two
earlier periods is observed for 1 9 6 3 - 7 1 . The two dominant streams
were distinct and C o l o m b o continued to be the only wet zone district to have net in-migration. The number of districts increased to
22 by this period and nine districts showed net in-migration according
to the intercensal net migration estimates calculated by using the vital
statistics method ( E S C A P , 1976:55). In descending order they were
C o l o m b o , Anuradhapura, Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee,
V a v u n i y a , Puttalam, Batticaloa, and Mannar. Matara District was displaced by K a n d y as the largest single loser o f population.
Data on district of birth by district o f usual residence are not
Migrant
Population
of Sri Lanka,
1946—7J
15
available for the 1963—71 period; consequently the type of analysis
pursued for 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 cannot be done. However, lifetime migration
data as o f 1971 are available on a 10 percent sample census tape which
has been analyzed, and the data are presented later in this paper.
TRENDS
IN
RATES OF
NATURAL
INCREASE
AND
NET
MIGR A T I 0 N
Table 5 presents the rates of natural increase and rates of net migration for the last three intercensal periods. During 1 9 4 6 - 5 3 , before
the effects of the precipitously declining crude death rate (due mainly
to the arrest o f malaria) were manifested, the rates o f natural increase
in all districts averaged about 2 percent per annum, except in Matara
(2.7 percent). The maritime districts of C o l o m b o , Kalutara, Galle, and
Jaffna all showed low rates o f natural increase around 1.5 to 1.6 per. c e n t , while the dry zone districts as a group showed somewhat higher
rates.
Net migration rates were well within 1 percent in all the districts
other than those in the dry zone, which as a group had a rate o f 1.2
percent. Anuradhapura District alone had a net migration rate of 2.8,
which was in excess o f its rate o f natural increase, the single example
o f such an occurrence during all three intercensal periods.
The decade o f 1953—63 revealed the manifestations of the second
phase of the demographic transition in Sri L a n k a , with stabilizing
death rates and continued high rates of birth; the national rate of natural increase was 2.8 percent. The maritime districts once again were below the national average (except Matara), while the districts of the dry
zone had an average rate of 3.6. The fact that the dry zone is the least
developed area o f the country, with its population mainly engaged in
subsistence agriculture, partly accounts for this high rate of natural
increase.
During the decade the net in-migration rates of the dry zone districts dropped below the 1 percent level, although those o f V a v u n i y a
(3.0), Anuradhapura (1.8), and Batticaloa (1.6) continued to be high.
In contrast, Matara District experienced a net out-migration rate of
1 percent while all the other districts increased their rates of outmigration. Matale, Kurunegala, and Puttalam became out-migration
districts during this period as against their in-migration status during
1 9 4 6 - 5 3 . The rate of in-migration in C o l o m b o District dwindled to
1.3 during 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 from 2.6 per 1,000 in 1 9 4 6 - 5 3 .
16
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 5 Intercensal rates of natural increase and net migration
per thousand: Sri Lanka, 1946—71
Natural increase
Net migration
District
194653
195363
196371
194653
195363
Colombo
Kalutara
15.7
15.4
17.4
2.6
-1.7
1.3
-3.3
Gallc
Matara
Kandy
Nuwara Eliya
16.3
27.4
20.1
24.3
22.0
23.5
32.0
28.2
25.7
25.5
32.3
32.7
-3.1
-5.6
-3.4
-3.3
-10.0
-6.5
-4.7
-
Kcgallc
Matale
Kurunegaia
Ratnapura
Puttalam
Badulla
J af f na
Hambantota
Mannar
Vavuniya
Batticaloa
Trincomalee
Anuradhapura
Sri Lanka
20.4
19.4
21.5
21.4
20.5
19.8
20.6
16.4
22.8
17.2
23.9
17.7
15.8
16.4
21.3
19.4
17.6
16.3
22.6
20.7
27.0
27.6
32.5
19.3
21.4
23.2
15.6
22.1
24.3
37.2
31.2
38.6
35.1
35.0
37.1
19.9
22.1
22.9
25.5
25.8
26.2
24.9
18.6
28.0
19.7
-1.1
-3.3
4.1
4.2
-0.3
-5.1
-8.3
-1.7
-1.1
-0.4
1.3
196371
1.7
-1.1
-2.5
-8.0
-6.5
-4.6
-4.3
-1.4
-2.1
-0.1
28.1
-2.3
-1.1
0.9
29.7
6.2
15.7
•17.6
1.2
-2.2
-6.0
-0.4
2.8
7.3
0.4
6.1
8.8
—
—
—
0.3
2.1
-1.7
1.9
15.5
17.6
11.0
-5.6
S O U R C E : C o m p u t e d from E S C A P (1975: tables 30, 31, 32).
By the third intercensal period, the transition was on its way to its
' ' f i n a l phase of declining birth rates. The national rate o f natural
increase was 2 percent per annum and there was a general trend toward convergence of the rate of natural increase among the districts.
The range was between 1..6 and 2.6, in contrast to the range of 2.2 to
3.9 during 1953—63. The dry zone districts still maintained a rate o f
natural increase above that o f the n a t i o n ; that of the maritime districts
was generally below it.
0
C o l o m b o District had increased its rate of net in-migration to 1.7
per 1,000. In all districts, the net migration rate had either declined or
stabilized during 1963 — 7 1 ; the occasional extreme rate observed during the preceding period was not evidenced. Jaffna is perhaps the only
Trends in Rates of Natural
Increase and Net
17
Migration
district that had a marked increase in its net out-migration rate, from
2.3 to 6.0 per 1,000.
The general stabilization o f net migration rates was possibly due to
the slowing down of the colonization program. In comparison with the
143,847 hectares o f new land cultivated during 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 , o n l y 35,640
additional hectares were cultivated during 1 9 6 3 - 7 1 ( E S C A P , 1975:
49). The slowing down of the colonization program may have also had
some effect on the increase in the rate of in-migration to C o l o m b o .
AGE
AND
SEX
RATIOS
OF
MIGRANTS
In Table 6, the sex ratios of lifetime migrants, of natives residing in
their districts of birth, and of the total Sri Lanka-born population for
1946, 1953, and 1963 are presented. The sex ratios of natives resident
in their districts of birth were closest to " n o r m a l c y . " Over the years
there was a secular decline in the sex ratios of all three groups, possibly
due to the relatively higher gain in life expectancy by females. Sri
Lanka did exhibit the so-called South Asian pattern of life expectancy
(in contrast to the more dominant pattern) wherein males on the average outlive females ( E l Badry, 1969). The Sri L a n k a - b o m population,
which included the lifetime migrants, had a slightly higher sex ratio
than the natives and at each time the lifetime migrants were mostly
male. However, the sex ratio of the migrants too had declined sharply,
from 145 to 130, over the 17-year period; the decline reflected the
increasing participation of females in the migratory process as well as,
perhaps, the increasing dominance of the dry zone-ward movement
that was mainly a familial type of migration. The. latter becomes more
T A B L E 6 Sex ratios of lifetime migrants, nonmigrants, and Sri Lankaborn population: Sri Lanka, 1946-- 6 3
Population
1946
1953
1963
All lifetime migrants
Lifetime migrants in urban areas
Lifetime migrants in rural areas
Nonmigrants
Sri Lanka-born population
145'
u
u
105
109
139
u
u
104
108
130
159
120
103
107
u— unavailable.
S O U R C E S : Department o f Census and Statistics (1951: table 42; 1958: table 10;
table 12).
1967:
I8
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri Lanka
evident when the sex ratios o f migrants destined for urban and rural
locations are examined separately. In 1963, for which lifetime figures
are available, urban-ward migrants had a sex ratio of 159 whereas m i grants in the rural areas had a sex ratio of 120.
Table 7 presents the percentage o f lifetime migrants in each age
group and their sex ratios by rural and urban area in 1963. Lifetime
migration peaked among the 2 5 - 2 9 age group and there was almost
a m o n o t o n i c decline among the older age groups. Nationally, 24 percent o f the 2 5 - 2 9 age group were lifetime migrants, 35.9 percent in
urban areas and 21 percent in rural areas. Since the data do not represent the age structure of the migrants at the time of migration but
rather at the time o f the 1963 census, they d o not necessarily reaffirm
the occurrence o f high migration among the young adults. Conversely,
if it is accepted that migrants were mostly young adults at the time of
migration, the 1963 census data would tend to suggest that migration
T A B L E 7 Percentage distribution and sex ratios of lifetime migrants
by five-year age groups: Sri L a n k a , 1963
Sex ratios
Percentage
Age group
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75+
All ages
Sri
Lanka
Urban
areas
Rural
areas
11.6
15.1
21.4
24.0
8.9
11.8
16.3
23.2
32.9
35.9
7.5
8.5
10.5
13.1
18.3
21.0
23.5
22.4
22.1
21.6
20.1
19.6
17.7
16.9
15.6
14.9
34.5
32.3
31.2
30.0
28.4
28.3
26.9
24.9
23.8
23.9
20.7
20.2
19.8
19.5
18.0
17.4
16.2
14.9
13.8
13.1
137
133
147
158
162
169
166
157
15.8
23.4
14.0
7.8
9.0
Sri
Lanka
Urban
areas
Rural
areas
104
103
97
126
173
198
186
104
104
117
117
105
108
115
120
183
168
181
165
173
172
152
126
111
105
122
122
135
155
159
168
173
173
117
126
130
159
120
102
119
132
128
127
S O U R C E : C o m p u t e d from Department of Census and Statistics (1967: table 12).
Age and Sex Ratios
of
19
Migrants
in both urban and rural areas was a current phenomenon because there
was a peaking of migrants in the 2 5 - 2 9 age group. This selectivity
seems to have been accentuated in the urban areas.
Sex ratios of lifetime migrants also show a pattern o f high male proportions among young adults and the middle aged. In general, the sex
ratio of migrants was higher in urban areas than in rural areas within
each age group. Sex ratios of urban and rural migrants were nearly
identical at the youngest ages ( 0 - 9 years); from there o n w a r d , the
difference increased, peaking in the 20—24 age group, and retained a
substantial difference until the age group of 4 0 - 4 4 . Then there was an
unmistakable convergence between the migrants in the urban and rural areas in the older ages.
LIFETIME MIGRATION,
1946
AND
1953
Tables 8 and 9 provide information on lifetime migration by rural and
urban districts o f Sri Lanka in 1946 and 1953, respectively. A t both
national and district levels in both years, the rural-born p o p u l a t i o n
was less mobile than the urban-born (Department of Census and Statistics, 1951: tables 14, 15; 1958: t a b l e s 3 , 8 , 9 , 10). B o t h the ruraland the urban-born populations increased their proportion o f lifetime
migrants during the seven-year intercensal period, from 10.0 to 12.3
percent in the case of the rural-born and from 34.0 to 37.9 percent
among the urban-born. In absolute numbers, there were more than
twice as many rural-born as urban-bom migrants at both times; the
increase was 35.9 percent among the rural-born and 32.8 percent
among the urban-born.
It is not possible to determine the urban/rural nature o f the destination o f the rural-bom migrants at both time points from the published
census data; it is possible, however, to do so for the urban-born m i grants (see Tables 8 and 9). In 1946, 39.2 percent o f all u r b a n - b o m
migrants were residing (enumerated) in other urban districts, but 54.2
percent were living in rural districts (the latter possibly including those
who had migrated to rural areas of the same district of birth). The
deficit of 6.6 percent represented people who were residing in other
urban localities of the same district. Except for Trincomalee District
and the two southern maritime districts of Galle and Matara, which
had experienced massive out-migration, the observed national pattern
o f migration is found in all districts including C o l o m b o , containing
the capital city. This pattern points to a dominant stream of urban-to-
Intercensal
20
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 8 Percentage distribution of rural/urban destinations of
urban-born lifetime migrants by district: Sri L a n k a , 1946
Destination
District of birth
Colombo
Kalutara
Kandy
Matale
Nuwara Eliya
Gallc
Matara
Hambantota
) af fna
Mannar
Vavuniya
Batticaloa
Trincomalee
Kurunegala
Puttalam
Anuradhapura
Badulla
Ratnapura
3
a
b
Kcgalle
Sri Lanka
Urban-born
in district
Urban
district
Rural
district
29.5
26.3
30.3
59.8
58.4
41.0
22.7
31.4
73.5
24.9
27.7
16.8
na
na
25.7
17.5
67.1
26.6
36.9
43.5
30.3
52.8
34.0
38.3
31.5
33.4
29.3
78.2
49.1
26.4
46.1
na
na
46.9
51.7
8.2
19.1
20.7
22.2
29.5
24.5
39.2
59.3
66.6
70.7
21.3
48.9
71.5
53.9
na
na
53.1
48.3
" 91.6
80.9
79.3
76.6
69.4
75.5
54.2
N O T E : The difference between 100 percent and the sum o f those migrating to urban and
rural districts represents those who migrated to other urban localities in the district of
birth.
na—not applicable.
a
Did not have an urban area within its boundaries,
b
Includes Chilaw District
S O U R C E : C o m p u t e d from Department of Census and Statistics (195 1: tables 14,
15).
rural movement in Sri L a n k a , even prior to the conquest of malaria
and the consequent habitability o f the dry zone. The difference between the sum of the proportions to the urban and rural destination
and 100 percent constitutes those who migrated to other urban areas
within the same district of birth.
By 1953, migrants born in urban areas were decisively migrating
to rural rather than to urban destinations. O f all urban-bom migrants
Lifetime
Migration,
1946 and
21
1953
T A B L E 9 Percentage distribution of rural/urban destinations of
urban-born lifetime migrants by district: Sri L a n k a , .1953
Destination
District of birth
Colombo
Kalutara
Kandy
Matale
Nuwara Eliya
Gallc
Matara
Hambantota
jaffna
Mannar
3
Vavuniya
Batticaloa
3
Trincomalee
Kurunegala
Pultalam
Urban-born
in district
Urban
district
Rural
district
37.0
35.9
10.5
27.2
17.8
25.3
10.8
41.3
35.6
68.6
.70.2
77.7
.74.7
53.9
28.7
65.5
37.4
31.6
36.2
17.0
na
na
24.4
16.1
21.8
39.6
na
na
36.7
35.7
8.3
9.0
Anuradhapura
Badulla
Ratnapura
Kcgalle
63.8
36.0
40.7
52.4
37.5
75.1
8.6
19.3
18.7
10.2
Sri Lanka
37.9
17.3
b
88.5
57.8
60.2
76.9
60.4
na
na
63.3
64.3
91.3
91.0
91.4
79.0
83.7
89.8
71.6
N O T E : The difference between 100 percent and the sum of those migrating to urban and
rural districts represents those who migrated to other urban localities in the district of
birth.
na—not applicable.
a
Did not have an urban area within its boundaries,
b
Includes Chilaw District.
S O U R C E : C o m p u t e d from Department of Census and Statistics (1958: tables 3, 8, 9, 10).
only 1 7.3 percent had migrated to other urban districts, whereas 71.6
percent had migrated to rural districts, including rural areas o f the
same district o f birth. The p r o p o r t i o n o f urban-born living in other urban areas o f the district of birth had increased to 11.1 percent. Within
each district, the pattern is more decisively in favor of rural destinations; and even Galle, Matara, and Trincomalee were how c o n f o r m i n g
to the pattern.
22
LIFETIME
Intercensal
MIGRATION,
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
197 1
A 10 percent sample census tape of the 1971 Census o f Sri L a n k a was
obtained from the Department of Census and Statistics. The discussion in this section is based on the tables derived from these data.
Nadarajah (1976:1 7 4 - 8 1 ) provides a concise description of the
sampling design as follows:
In order to reduce the work load of the enumerators and keep costs down,
it was decided to limit some of the questions to a sample only. Two alternative
designs were possible for sampling: (1) a sample of households in each census
block, or (2) a sample of census blocks with complete coverage of all the households within the sample blocks.
The advantage of the latter design is that only the enumerators working in
the census blocks included in the sample would be concerned with the additional
topics covered in the sample; these enumerators could be trained more intensively.
Furthermore, the selection of sample blocks could be done in the office with
strict control, whereas a selection of a sample of households within a census
block would have to have been done by the enumerator himself. This procedure
could have led to biases in selection. Therefore, even though it provided a less
efficient sample, the second design was adopted. Each of the 22 districts was
divided into three strata: urban, rural, and estate. In each stratum a 10 percent
sample of census blocks was selected systematically.
It was in this 10 percent sample that the four items of information
pertaining to migration and the questions on fertility (i.e., questions
20 through 23 o f the F 11 census schedule appearing as A p p e n d i x 1)
were included. The information on migration included district of birth,
district of usual residence, duration of stay at usual residence, and district of previous residence for those who had not been living at their
usual residence since birth. Using these four items o f i n f o r m a t i o n , 1
divided the sample into lifetime categories of nonmigrants, " o n e t i m e " (primary) migrants, "two-or-more-times" (repeat) migrants, and
return migrants by using a selection process (shown in A p p e n d i x 2).
In addition to these migrant types, I evolved five more categories in
the process of isolating the migrant types. They were the foreign-born,
" i l l o g i c a l " cases, within-district migrants, " u n c e r t a i n " migrants, and
cases for w h o m data were missing so that they were not classifiable
into any of the above categories. The categories are defined as follows:
Nonmigrants.
Persons born in Sri Lanka in a particular district who
lived in the district since birth and had not moved out of their village
or town of birth.
Primary migrants.
Sri Lanka-born persons who moved across
Lifetime
Migration,
1971
23
d i s t r i c t b o u n d a r i e s o n l y o n c e ; i.e., all p e r s o n s w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h
was the s a m e as t h e i r p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n c e (as r e p o r t e d at the t i m e o f the
c e n s u s ) b u t w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f u s u a l r e s i d e n c e was n e i t h e r t h e i r d i s t r i c t
o f birth n o r their district o f previous residence.
Repeat
S r i L a n k a - b o r n p e r s o n s w h o m o v e d at least t w i c e
migrants.
across d i s t r i c t b o u n d a r i e s f o r r e s i d e n t i a l p u r p o s e s ; i.e., all p e r s o n s
whose district o f previous residence differed f r o m their district o f birth
a n d a l s o w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f u s u a l r e s i d e n c e in 1971 d i f f e r e d f r o m
both
their district of birth and their district of previous residence.
Return
S r i L a n k a - b o r n p e r s o n s w h o c a m e to r e s i d e i n
migrants.
t h e i r d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h a f t e r h a v i n g m o v e d o u t o f it at an e a r l i e r d a t e f o r
r e s i d e n t i a l p u r p o s e s ; i n o t h e r w o r d s , all p e r s o n s w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h
was the s a m e as t h e i r d i s t r i c t o f u s u a l r e s i d e n c e b u t w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f
p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n c e was n e i t h e r t h e i r d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h n o r the d i s t r i c t o f
usual residence.
Within-district
migrants.
S r i L a n k a - b o r n p e r s o n s w h o d i d n o t live
i n a n y d i s t r i c t o t h e r t h a n the o n e i n w h i c h t h e y w e r e b o r n b u t d i d live
i n d i f f e r e n t v i l l a g e s o r t o w n s o f the s a m e d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h .
Foreign-born.
Persons w h o were not born in Sri L a n k a but were
l i v i n g i n S r i L a n k a at the t i m e o f the 1971 C e n s u s .
"Uncertain"
migrants.
P e r s o n s b o m i n S r i L a n k a w h o q u a l i f i e d as
m i g r a n t s b y h a v i n g m o v e d o u t o f at least o n e d i s t r i c t b u t f o r w h o m
a d e q u a t e i n f o r m a t i o n was l a c k i n g f o r c l a s s i f y i n g t h e m i n t o a n y o f the
five a b o v e c a t e g o r i e s .
"Illogical"
cases.
Sri L a n k a-born persons whose data o n the f o u r
items o f i n f o r m a t i o n regarding migration status d i d not represent a
logically acceptable and m e a n i n g f u l pattern o f response. (Three such
p o s s i b l e i n s t a n c e s are r e p r e s e n t e d i n A p p e n d i x 2.)
Cases
with
missing
data.
S r i L a n k a - b o r n p e r s o n s w h o c o u l d n o t be
c l a s s i f i e d i n t o a n y o f the e i g h t c a t e g o r i e s a b o v e o w i n g t o l a c k o f d a t a ;
t h e m a j o r i t y o f these cases d i d n o t h a v e e v e n the d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h
w h i c h p r o v i d e d the p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e f o r this c l a s s i f i c a t i o n .
T a b l e 10 p r e s e n t s the n u m b e r a n d p e r c e n t a g e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f the
1 , 2 3 7 , 0 8 7 cases c o n t a i n e d in t h e 10 p e r c e n t s a m p l e o f t h e 197 1 n a t i o n a l c e n s u s , a c c o r d i n g t o the n i n e c a t e g o r i e s d e f i n e d a b o v e . G e n e r a l i z a t i o n s a b o u t m i g r a n t t y p e s are d i f f i c u l t b e c a u s e o f a c o n s i d e r a b l e
n u m b e r o f m i s s i n g cases a n d " i l l o g i c a l " o n e s . O n e i n e v e r y 11 cases
( 9 . 0 5 p e r c e n t ) o f the s a m p l e is an u n i d e n t i f i a b l e case. O f the p o p u l a t i o n d e f i n i t e l y b o r n i n S r i L a n k a (i.e., e x c l u d i n g the f o r e i g n - b o m ) , t h e
Intercensal
24
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 10 N u m b e r and percentage of migrant categories estimated
f r o m 1 0 p e r c e n t s a m p l e c e n s u s t a p e : S r i L a n k a , 1971
Migrant category
Repeat migrants
Return migrants
Primary migrants
Within-districl migrants
" U n c e r t a i n " migrants
Cases for whom data were missing
Foreign born
" I l l o g i c a l " cases
Nonmigrants
Total 10 percent sample
Number
Percent
1.1
13,382
10,210
125,320
121,494
0.8
10.1
15,440
786,138
9.8
4.3
7.8
1.3
1.3
63.6
1,237,087
100.0
52,885
96,55?
15,667
m i s s i n g a n d " i l l o g i c a l " cases c o m p r i s e 9 . 2 p e r c e n t . If o n e a s s u m e s t h a t
the m i s s i n g a n d " i l l o g i c a l " cases w e r e d i s t r i b u t e d p r o rata as p e r t h e
existing d i s t r i b u t i o n , then a total o f 18,255 migrants ( p r i m a r y , repeat,
r e t u r n , a n d " u n c e r t a i n " ) are m i s s i n g f r o m t h e a n a l y s i s ; s i m i l a r l y ,
1 0 , 9 7 5 w i t h i n - d i s t r i c t m i g r a n t s a n d 7 1 , 1 1 7 n o n m i g r a n t s are m i s s i n g
f r o m the s a m p l e . A l t h o u g h it is p o s s i b l e t o a l l o c a t e these m i s s i n g
cases r a n d o m l y o n a p r o r a t a basis, I r e f r a i n e d f r o m r e s o r t i n g t o this
p r o c e d u r e b e c a u s e 1 was m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n a s c e r t a i n i n g w h e t h e r t h e r e
w e r e a n y s u b s t a n t i a l d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n the d e f i n i t e l y
identifiable
m i g r a n t t y p e s , r a t h e r t h a n m a k i n g a case f o r g e n e r a l i z a t i o n . T h u s , i n
i n t e r p r e t i n g these r e s u l t s f r o m the s a m p l e c e n s u s t a p e s , o n e s h o u l d
a v o i d a t t a c h i n g t o o m u c h w e i g h t t o these r e s u l t s , in v i e w o f t h e d a t a
deficiencies.
T a b l e 11 p r e s e n t s the r e l a t i v e s t r e n g t h a n d d i r e c t i o n o f i n t e r r e g i o n a l
m i g r a t i o n f l o w s as e s t i m a t e d by d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h b y d i s t r i c t o f u s u a l
r e s i d e n c e d a t a . T h e t o t a l i t y o f m i g r a n t s i n this t a b l e was o b t a i n e d b y
p o o l i n g the p r i m a r y , r e p e a t , a n d " u n c e r t a i n " m i g r a n t s . R e t u r n m i g r a n t s w e r e n o t i n c l u d e d b e c a u s e i n a s i m p l e c r o s s - c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f the
p l a c e o f b i r t h by the p l a c e o f u s u a l r e s i d e n c e , the r e t u r n m i g r a n t s
w o u l d be c o u n t e d as n o n m i g r a n t s . A s a s a f e t y m e a s u r e , o n l y cases i n
this p o o l w h o s e d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h was n o t t h e s a m e as t h e i r d i s t r i c t o f
u s u a l r e s i d e n c e w e r e t a k e n i n t o the s a m p l e . C o n s e q u e n t l y , j u s t u n d e r
o n e - h a l f o f the " u n c e r t a i n " m i g r a n t s ( 2 2 , 7 4 9 o r 4 3 p e r c e n t ) f a i l e d
t o e n t e r the s a m p l e d p o o l o f m i g r a n t s . E i t h e r the d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h o r
T A B L E 11
D i r e c t i o n a n d i n t e n s i t y o f i n t e r r e g i o n a l l i f e t i m e m i g r a t i o n in S r i L a n k a : 1 9 7 1
Region of residence {%)
Region of birlh
Colombo
District
Maritime
districts
Kandyan
districts
Jaffna
District
Dry zone
districts
Share of
out-migrants
Colombo District (wet zone)
_
33.4
46.6
1.2
18.7
19.4
Maritime districts (wet zone)
47.2
-
31.4
0.4
21.0
31.7
Kandyan districts (wet zone)
38.2
18.2
-
1.6
42.0
36.1
Jaffna District (dry zone)
37.5
2.9
14.5
-
45.1
6.6
Dry zone districts
24.7
23.3
44.7
7.3
-
Share of in-migrants
32.8
14.7
22.7
1.4
28.5
Number
114,213
3
Index of attraction
36.9
Net gain/loss of migrants
15,214
"Retentive attractiveness "
index
b
6.2
100.0
19.5
34.3
-19,446
-15,285
.26
-.37
-.23
2.6
-5,944
-.65
31.7
na
25,461
na
.64
na
na— noi applicable.
a
Refers to.l 0 percent of the national population,
b
Net gain/loss divided by sum of in- and out-migrants.
to
1^1
Intercensal
26
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
the district o f usual residence data were missing for 5.6 percent o f a
total o f 168,838 migrants.
T h e wet z o n e districts (i.e., C o l o m b o , m a r i t i m e districts, a n d
kandyan
d i s t r i c t s ) a c c o u n t e d f o r 8 7 . 2 p e r c e n t o f the g r o s s p o o l o f
i n t e r r e g i o n a l m i g r a n t s (last c o l u m n o f T a b l e 1 1 ) , w h i l e the d r y z o n e
( c o n s i s t i n g o f e i g h t d i s t r i c t s ) in c o n t r a s t c o n t r i b u t e d o n l y 6 . 2 p e r c e n t .
B o t h t h e kandyan
d i s t r i c t s a n d the m a r i t i m e d i s t r i c t s w e r e b y far the
m a j o r s u p p l i e r s t o t h e gross p o o l o f m i g r a n t s . H o w e v e r , w h e n the
m o r e s p e c i f i c r e g i o n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s are e x a m i n e d , it b e c o m e s e v i d e n t
t h a t t h e r e was a m a r k e d d i f f e r e n c e i n the p r o p o r t i o n a t e s h a r e o f e a c h
o f these t w o s t r e a m s t o the t w o m a j o r areas o f a t t r a c t i o n , v i z . , C o l o m b o
a n d t h e d r y z o n e . W h e r e a s t h e m a r i t i m e s t r e a m sent to C o l o m b o m o r e
t h a n t w i c e the p r o p o r t i o n it s e n t t o the d r y z o n e , t h e kandyan
districts
s e n t m o r e m i g r a n t s t o the d r y z o n e ( 4 2 . 0 p e r c e n t ) t h a n t o C o l o m b o
( 3 8 . 2 p e r c e n t ) . A s m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , the m a r i t i m e d i s t r i c t s , b e i n g
m o r e e x p o s e d t o W e s t e r n i n f l u e n c e s a n d the i n h a b i t a n t s b e i n g g e n e r a l l y
b e t t e r e d u c a t e d , t e n d e d t o o v e r s u p p l y the m o s t d e v e l o p e d r e g i o n o f
the c o u n t r y , w h i c h is C o l o m b o . T h e kandyan
p e a s a n t r y , b e i n g the
least e x p o s e d to W e s t e r n i n f l u e n c e a n d s u b j e c t e d t o e x t r e m e h a r d s h i p
t h r o u g h l a n d e x p r o p r i a t i o n o r i g i n a t i n g i n 1 8 4 0 (see S r i L a n k a , 1 9 5 1 ;
A b e y s e k e r a , 1 9 7 9 ) , w e r e f a v o r e d i n the c o l o n i z a t i o n s c h e m e s o f the
d r y z o n e . T h i s s p e c u l a t i o n is b o r n e o u t b y the d a t a p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e
I 1.
C o l o m b o was the m o s t p o p u l a r l o c a t i o n , w i t h 3 2 . 8 p e r c e n t o f the
m i g r a n t s s e t t l i n g t h e r e . T h e d r y z o n e was the n e x t m o s t a t t r a c t i v e reg i o n , c o m p r i s i n g 2 8 . 8 percent o f the migrants. T h e eight
kandyan
d i s t r i c t s , t h o u g h l o s i n g the m o s t p o p u l a t i o n , were n e v e r t h e l e s s c a p a b l e
o f a t t r a c t i n g j u s t o v e r o n e - f i f t h ( 2 2 . 7 p e r c e n t ) o f the m i g r a n t s , p o s s i b l y b e c a u s e t h e y b e n e f i t e d to s o m e degree t h r o u g h V i l l a g e E x p a n s i o n
S c h e m e s (see A b e y s e k e r a , 1 9 7 9 ) . T h e h i g h e s t i n d e x o f a t t r a c t i o n , as
m i g h t be e x p e c t e d , was s t i l l m a i n t a i n e d by C o l o m b o , b u t s u r p r i s i n g l y
the kandyan
d i s t r i c t s r e v e a l e d the s e c o n d h i g h e s t m a g n i t u d e e v e n
t h o u g h t h e y s u s t a i n e d a net d e f i c i t o f - 1 5 . 2 8 5 l i f e t i m e m i g r a n t s . H o w e v e r , w h e n a s e p a r a t e i n d e x o f " r e t e n t i v e a t t r a c t i v e n e s s " (i.e., net g a i n
o r loss d i v i d e d b y the gross m i g r a n t t u r n o v e r — w h i c h is the s u m o f i n a n d o u t - m i g r a n t s ) is c o m p u t e d , the d r y z o n e is f o u n d t o h a v e b e e n the
most capable of retaining migrants ( 0 . 6 4 ) , m u c h m o r e so than C o l o m b o ( 0 . 2 6 ) , the o n l y o t h e r r e g i o n to s h o w p o s i t i v e r e t e n t i v e
Lifetime
Migration,
1971
27
c a p a c i t i e s . J a f f n a was the least c a p a b l e o f " r e t a i n i n g " m i g r a n t s , f o l l o w e d by the m a r i t i m e d i s t r i c t s a n d the kandyan
&\s\.r\cXs.
O n a d i s t r i c t - b y - d i s t r i c t basis, t h e s i z e a b l e p o p u l a t i o n t r a n s f e r s in
f a v o r o f C o l o m b o s h o w up u n m i s t a k a b l y in the i n d e x o f a t t r a c t i o n
c o m p u t e d a n d p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e 12. C o l o m b o was o n c e a g a i n , b y far,
the m o s t a t t r a c t i v e d i s t r i c t o f d e s t i n a t i o n (I. A . = 2 2 . 9 ) f o r a l l m i g r a n t s
o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m o t h e r d i s t r i c t s , m a i n t a i n i n g a l m o s t the s a m e a t t r a c t i v e n e s s that it d i s p l a y e d d u r i n g 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 . W i t h A n u r a d h a p u r a h a v i n g
b e e n s p l i t i n t o t w o , the i n d e x o f a t t r a c t i o n o f the r e d u c e d A n u r a d h a pura District d w i n d l e d to 6 . 9 ; but if both A n u r a d h a p u r a and P o l o n n a r u w a are c o n s i d e r e d as o n e u n i t , it s t i l l r a n k e d as the s e c o n d m o s t
a t t r a c t i v e d e s t i n a t i o n , w i t h an i n d e x o f 1 0 . 6 . T h e i n d e x o f a t t r a c t i o n
i n d i c a t e s t h a t o n e o u t o f e v e r y five m i g r a n t s in the c o u n t r y ( 2 1 . 9 perc e n t ) w o u l d be a t t r a c t e d t o C o l o m b o ; o n e o u t o f e v e r y ten m i g r a n t s
w o u l d r e a c h the c o m b i n e d A n u r a d h a p u r a a n d P o l o n n a r u w a D i s t r i c t s .
C o n s i d e r i n g the d r y z o n e n o w e n c o m p a s s i n g e i g h t d i s t r i c t s ( t h o u g h
c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o the same g e o g r a p h i c area c o v e r e d b y the s i x d i s t r i c t s
that e x i s t e d d u r i n g 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 ) , a p p r o x i m a t e l y three o u t o f e v e r y ten
m i g r a n t s ( 2 9 . 5 p e r c e n t ) w o u l d be a t t r a c t e d t o it.
It is a l s o i l l u m i n a t i n g to c o m p a r e C o l o m b o w i t h the d r y z o n e in att r a c t i n g e a c h o t h e r ' s m i g r a n t s . T h e 1971 l i f e t i m e m i g r a t i o n f i g u r e s rev e a l t h a t the d r y z o n e e x e r t e d a s l i g h t l y g r e a t e r p u l l on t h e m i g r a n t s
o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m C o l o m b o t h a n v i c e v e r s a ; b u t the d i f f e r e n c e i n the
r e l a t i v e p r o p o r t i o n s was h a r d l y n o t e w o r t h y , 16.5 versus 1 8 . 7 p e r c e n t .
W h e n these f i g u r e s are c o m p a r e d , w i t h t h e figures f o r the i n t e r c e n s a l
decade o f 1 9 5 3 — 6 3 , h o w e v e r , C o l o m b o appears to have h a d a m u c h
b e t t e r p o s i t i o n t h a n the d r y z o n e o v e r the l o n g e r t i m e s p a n . It a t t r a c t e d
m o r e f r o m the d r y z o n e ( 1 1 . 7 p e r c e n t d u r i n g 1 9 5 3 - 6 3 ) a n d it lost j u s t
o v e r h a l f the p r o p o r t i o n a t e s h a r e t h a t it lost d u r i n g 1 9 5 3 — 6 3 ( 3 5 . 4
percent).
In i d e n t i f y i n g C o l o m b o D i s t r i c t a n d the d r y z o n e d i s t r i c t s as t h e
t w o m a j o r d e s t i n a t i o n s o f m i g r a n t s i n S r i L a n k a d u r i n g the past f o u r
d e c a d e s , I a m n o t s i m p l y d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g the t w o s t r e a m s by g e o g r a p h i c
area. C o l o m b o is the m o s t u r b a n d i s t r i c t i n S r i L a n k a a n d t h i s fact
a f f e c t s the n a t u r e o f m i g r a n t s w h o g o t h e r e . In o t h e r w o r d s , it is the
m i g r a n t s t o u r b a n C o l o m b o w h o t y p i f y this s t r e a m r a t h e r t h a n m i g r a n t s to b o t h r u r a l a n d u r b a n C o l o m b o . S i m i l a r l y , in the case o f the
d r y z o n e , it is the r u r a l d r y z o n e t h a t t y p i f i e s the m i g r a t i o n s t r e a m .
28
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 1 2 Direction and intensity of lifetime m i g r a t i o n : Sri L a n k a ,
District of birlh
District of usual residence
{%)
(D
(5)
(2)
(3)
(4)
1 Colombo
_
14.6
2 Kalutara
47.2
-
3
20.7
2.1
-
4 Matale
1 1.8
1.0
27.6
-
5 Nuwara Eliya
14.0
0.9
33.7
6 Galle
42.9
11.7
7 Matara
32.0
3.5
Kandy
(6)
(7)
(8)
1.7
4.4
2.2
0.7
1.5
0.7
11.6
2.3
0.6
14.6
11.7
1.2
1.3
0.3
3.7
1.2
0.4
0.1
3.3
-
1.0
1.3
0.3
5.3
1.2
1.3
-
9.7
4.4
0.8
1.0
10.6
7.5
3.8
2.0
-
13
18.9
-
8 Hambantota
16.1
1.9
1.8
0.2
0.4
4.2
28.0
9 laffna
37.5
0.6
5.2
0.9
1.1
0.5
0.6
10 Mannar
26.7
1.3
6.0
1.2
2.8
2.2
1.2
1.8
1 1 Vavuniya
8.4
2.0
1.7
0.8
0.3
1.4
0.6
0.0
0.6
0.5
12 Batticaloa
1 1.1
1.1
2.4
0.5
0.6
0.8
0.8
1 3 Amparai
13.5
4.4
3.3
0.6
0.6
2.5
11
19
14 Trincomalee
23.5
3.2
4.8
l.J
3.1
1.7
0.7
0.7
15
0.3
Kurunegala
23.9
1.6
6.8
6.7
0.5
0.9
0.5
16 Puttalam
32.5
3.1
1.3
0.5
0.2
0.6
0.2
0.2
I 7 Anuradhapura
18.7
3.3
9.0
6.6
1.4
3.0
1.0
0.4
1 8 Polonnaruwa
13.5
2.7
10.2
7.6
2.1
1.3
1.0
10
19
Badulla
17.5
2.5
10.7
1.2
1 1.2
1.8
2.2
1.1
20 Monaragala
14.8
1.2
4.7
0.5
2.1
3.6
5.6
9.3
21
Ratnapura
31.1
10.5
5.8
1.0
J.9
3.4
1 1.3
16
22
Kcgalle
24.3
2.6
13.8
2.2
1.4
1.3
1.2
0.7
Index o f attraction
22.9
3.6
8.1
2.6
2.4
18
3.5
12
E a c h d i s t r i c t i n S r i L a n k a has b o t h a n u r b a n a n d a r u r a l c o m p o n e n t .
A s s u m i n g t h a t m i g r a n t s i n the t w o m i g r a n t s t r e a m s are r e s e t t l i n g t h e m selves i n s e a r c h o f a l i f e s t y l e d i s t i n g u i s h a b l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m o n e a n o t h e r , this a s p e c t c a n be c a p t u r e d i n its m o s t u n d i l u t e d f o r m i f t h e
a n a l y s i s is p u r s u e d w i t h the m i g r a n t d e s t i n a t i o n s d e f i n e d as u r b a n C o l o m b o a n d t h e r u r a l d r y z o n e , w i t h i n t h e l i m i t a t i o n s o f the i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n the c e n s u s tapes. T o r e p r e s e n t the w h o l e c o u n t r y
a n d n o t be c o n c e r n e d w i t h o n l y these t w o d e s t i n a t i o n s , t w o o t h e r
r e s i d u a l d e s t i n a t i o n s have b e e n c r e a t e d ; t h e y are the " o t h e r u r b a n "
( c o n s i s t i n g o f aJl the u r b a n areas o f the c o u n t r y t h a t l i e o u t s i d e o f
C o l o m b o D i s t r i c t ) , a n d the " o t h e r r u r a l " ( c o n s i s t i n g o f a l l r u r a l areas
e x c e p t t h o s e w i t h i n the e i g h t d i s t r i c t s o f the d r y z o n e ) .
Lifetime
Migration.
1971
29
1971
(10)
(9)
(H)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
(22)
1.2
0.8
0.7
0.7
1.6
2.5
18.6
12.2
8.3
3.4
2.5
0.9
5.7
7.8
0.4
0.2
1.3
0.3
1.2
0.6
3.8
2.2
.2.7
1.5
1.2
1.3
12.5
3.2
1.4
0.6
2.1
0.4
2.9
2.1
7.0
0.8
8.0
6.5
5.6
0.8
2.5
7.5
1.6
0.3
2.1
0.4
1.0
2.2
8.0
0.8
15.4
17.3
1.2
0.6
0.9
2.4
0.9
0.4
1.6
0.4
3.4
8.0
1.6
0.4
1.7
7.6
14.3
0.7
2.1
2.4
2.0
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.4
2.2
1.4
3.1
1.0
3.8
1.9
2.8
1.6
4.8
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.3
4.3
1.9
1.8
0.6
3.5
1.2
1.7
3.1
8.7
1.0
0.3
0.0
0.2
0.2
.2.9
1.2
0.8
0.5
1.5
0.6
0.7
13.7
24.3
0.4
-
0.8
8.1
17.8
3.9
1.8
10.5
2.3
1.1
2.4
0.3
2.3
0.2
1.5
12.8
-
16.4
1.7
2.9
3.6
5.3
0.9
7.3
0.8
1.8
0.4
2.1
1.0
23.2
17.9
-
l.l
0.6
10.1
2.8
2.0
24.0
0.0
0.6
0.3
2.2
0.3
8.5
4.0
5.4
-
15.5
29.3
1.3
0.7
3.2
8.0
2.1
2.5
0.9
0.3
1.2
1.4
1.5
26.3
-
8.5
2.3
0.6
0.8
10.1
1.9
5.8
6.0
3.7
9.6
2.3
4.6
12.9
5.9
-
2.7
0.8
15.2
2.7
1.5
0.2
1.7
0.9
0.5
0.5
0.8
0.2
1.4
1.8
-
21.4
14.8
6.3
0.8
0.6
1.1
8.8
0.5
0.7
1.3
1.2
0.7
1.3
46.7
-
5.0
1.6
0.6
0.4
0.8
0.6
2.8
2.3
10.3
0.8
1.6
6.8
15.3
3.9
-
6.7
0.7
1.2
1.2
2.8
1.3
0.8
S.8
6.8
2.4
3.5
8.0
1.3
18.2
-
0.7
3.5
1.1
6.2
0.8
0.5
0.6
1.5
6.9
1.2
2.0
0.3
1.4
1.2
-
27.7
5.7
2.0
0.8
0.8
0.0
0.6
21.9
0.8
1.2
0.0
0.6
2.1
24.0
-
4.3
0.6
0.3
1.1
0.2
3.0
0.4
2.2
0.8
1.5
0.9
4.8
2.6
-
0.4
0.2
1.2
0.2
5.9
0.9
15.3
0.9
6.6
10.1
1.3
1.5
12.8
3.3
2.0
3.6
2.9
4.3
4.7
7.2
2.5
6.9
4.3
3.5
3.3
4.9
1.2
13.8
3.3
In r e l a t i v e p o p u l a t i o n c o n c e n t r a t i o n , t h r e e o f these f o u r s p a t i a l
u n i t s h a v e c o m p a r a b l e s t r e n g t h ; as o f 1 9 7 1 , u r b a n C o l o m b o c o n t a i n e d
1 1 . 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n , the r u r a l d r y z o n e p o s s e s s e d
1 1 . 7 p e r c e n t , a n d the " o t h e r u r b a n " areas a c c o u n t e d f o r 1 0 . 8 p e r c e n t
( E S C A P , 1 9 7 6 : 6 9 ) . T h e " o t h e r r u r a l " areas c o n t a i n e d a l m o s t t w o t h i r d s o f the n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n ( 6 5 . 9 p e r c e n t ) . W i t h i n the s u b s e c t o r
o f urban Sri L a n k a , u r b a n C o l o m b o had just over o n e - h a l f o f the p o p u l a t i o n ( 5 1 . 7 p e r c e n t ) , w h i l e t h e r u r a l d r y z o n e h a d o n l y 15.1 p e r c e n t
o f r u r a l S r i L a n k a w i t h i n its b o u n d a r i e s ; the " o t h e r r u r a l " areas p o s sessed an o v e r w h e l m i n g 8 4 . 9 p e r c e n t .
T a b l e 13 p r o v i d e s a p e r c e n t a g e a n a l y s i s o f d i s t r i c t o f b i r t h b y d e s t i n a t i o n t o t h e s e f o u r m u t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e s p a t i a l u n i t s as o b t a i n e d f r o m
Intercensal
30
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 13 P e r c e n t a g e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l i f e t i m e m i g r a n t s t r e a m s t o
s e l e c t e d d e s t i n a t i o n s b y d i s t r i c t o f o r i g i n : S r i L a n k a , 1971
District
of origin
Col ombo
Kalutara
Kandy
Matale
Nuwara Eliya
Gallc
Urban
Colombo
0.0
29.9
16.0
8.9
11.1
Rural
dry zone
Other
urban
Other
rural
Share of
migrants
13.6
5.8
23.4
10.4
63.0
14.0
6.8
18.2
34.5
21.1
7.4
12.3
11.9
11.0
14.2
9.7
13.0
7.4
Matara
Hambantota
33.9
25.4
12.4
Jaffna
Mannar
Vavuniya
Batticaloa
Amparai
Trincomalee
Kurunegala
Puttalam
Anuradhapura
Polonnaruwa
36.1
16.7
6.1
10.2
9.1
19.5
10.6
20.4
9.6
7.1
Badulla
Monaragala
Ratnapura
12.9
8.4
19.3
12.9
34.9
45.4
34.4
30.5
22.7
9.6
24.1
32.6
11.5
26.2
6.1
22.6
16.8
16.0
Kcgalle
A l l migrants
5.6
24.9
18.7
28.9
25.5
33.8
30.7
53.8
53.4
44.7
56.8
44.6
52.0
74.6
10.1
10.8
10.4
9.0
7.9
39.1
25.1
13.7
35.0
24.5
58.6
63.4
53.0
49.6
64.8
55.0
65.5
56.6
14.0
53.2
21.5
25.5
8.1
6.7
13.2
10.7
Number
14.0
3.4
5.7
8.8
9.4
2.1
4.7
0.5
0.2
1.2
0.3
0.5
6.5
2.3
1.3
0.4
4.9
0.5
4.5
7.9
100.0
159,069
the 1971 c e n s u s t a p e s . If, f o r a n a l y t i c a l p u r p o s e s , o n e a s s u m e s t h a t
the c a p a c i t y t o a t t r a c t m i g r a n t s is a f u n c t i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n s i z e , t h e n
o n e d i s c o v e r s t h a t u r b a n C o l o m b o , the r u r a l d r y z o n e , a n d o t h e r u r b a n
areas g a i n e d at t h e e x p e n s e o f o t h e r r u r a l a r e a s ; i n this m o d e l , u r b a n
C o l o m b o r e v e a l e d the h i g h e s t r e l a t i v e g a i n ( 4 4 . 8 p e r c e n t ) , f o l l o w e d b y
the r u r a l d r y z o n e ( 3 6 . 8 p e r c e n t ) a n d o t h e r u r b a n areas ( 2 9 . 6 p e r c e n t ) .
T h e r e l a t i v e loss o f the o t h e r r u r a l areas was 19.3 p e r c e n t .
T h e d i s t r i c t c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the gross n a t i o n a l p o o l o f m i g r a n t s
present some interesting observations. T h e maritime districts situated
i n the s o u t h w e s t e r n q u a d r a n g l e o f S r i L a n k a ( C o l o m b o , K a l u t a r a ,
Lifetime
Migration,
1971
31
G a l l e , a n d M a t a r a ) a c c o u n t e d f o r 3 9 p e r c e n t o f all l i f e t i m e m i g r a n t s .
T h e h i l l - c o u n t r y districts situated w i t h i n the wet z o n e ( K a n d y , N u w a r a
E l i y a , and Kegalle) c o n t r i b u t e d 2 7 . 6 p e r c e n t ; the districts l y i n g in b o t h
the w e t a n d d r y z o n e s (as d e p i c t e d i n M a p 1) a c c o u n t e d f o r 2 0 p e r c e n t , a n d J a f f n a D i s t r i c t ' s share was 6.5 p e r c e n t . A l l 12 d i s t r i c t s t h a t
e x p e r i e n c e d net i n - m i g r a t i o n , as i n d i c a t e d b y 1971 l i f e t i m e
migration
d a t a , a c c o u n t e d f o r 3 6 . 5 p e r c e n t o f a l l m i g r a n t s ; o f this p r o p o r t i o n ,
h o w e v e r , C o l o m b o c o n t r i b u t e d 14 p e r c e n t . In o t h e r w o r d s , 11 o f t h e
n e x t i n - m i g r a t i o n d i s t r i c t s , w h i c h c o n s i s t e d m a i n l y o f the d r y z o n e
d i s t r i c t s , c o n t r i b u t e d less t h a n o n e - q u a r t e r ( 2 2 . 5 p e r c e n t ) o f the gross
n a t i o n a l p o o l of lifetime migrants. T h e ten net out-migration
districts
accounted for a v o l u m i n o u s 63.5 percent.
B e c a u s e a d i s t r i c t ' s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e n a t i o n a l p o o l o f m i g r a n t s is
a f u n c t i o n o f its p o p u l a t i o n s i z e , I e x a m i n e d t h e r e l a t i v e
contribution
o f the i n - a n d o u t - m i g r a t i o n d i s t r i c t s to the m i g r a n f p o o l ; w h e r e a s t h e
r e l a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f all i n - m i g r a t i o n d i s t r i c t s was 8 . 2 p e r c e n t o f the
t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n o f 1 9 7 1 , the t e n l i f e t i m e o u t - m i g r a t i o n d i s t r i c t s ' s h a r e
was c o n s i d e r a b l y h i g h e r , 18.1 p e r c e n t . T h i s o b s e r v a t i o n l e n d s c r e d e n c e
t o the e x p e c t e d b e h a v i o r o f i n - a n d o u t - m i g r a t i o n d i s t r i c t s , t h a t the
o u t - m i g r a t i o n districts s h o u l d e r a d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y larger share o f
the gross n a t i o n a l p o o l o f m i g r a n t s . A l t h o u g h the relative d i f f e r e n c e
b e t w e e n the t w o c o n t r i b u t i o n s was g r e a t , o n e m u s t be c a u t i o u s i n giving t o o m u c h w e i g h t to these figures b e c a u s e o f the large n u m b e r o f
m i s s i n g cases. T h e d i r e c t i o n a n d n o t the e x a c t p r o p o r t i o n s s h o u l d f o r m
the basis o f the g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s t o be d r a w n f r o m this o b s e r v a t i o n .
In e x a m i n i n g the r u r a l / u r b a n n a t u r e o f the d e s t i n a t i o n s o f t h e m i g r a n t s t r e a m s o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m e a c h d i s t r i c t , 1 f o u n d t h a t o n l y o n e dist r i c t , J a f f n a , d i r e c t e d m o r e t h a n o n e - h a l f ( 6 5 p e r c e n t ) o f a l l its m i g r a n t s t o u r b a n d e s t i n a t i o n s (i.e., e i t h e r t o u r b a n C o l o m b o o r to o t h e r
u r b a n a r e a s ) ; o f these m i g r a n t s , 36.1 p e r c e n t w e n t t o u r b a n C o l o m b o
and 28.9 percent went to other urban locations. Galle and T r i n c o m a l e e c a m e c l o s e s t to J a f f n a ' s p e r f o r m a n c e w i t h j u s t u n d e r o n e - h a l f o f
urbanward migrants, 48 and 45 percent, respectively. C o l o m b o Dist r i c t , d e v o i d o f o n e m a j o r u r b a n d e s t i n a t i o n ( u r b a n C o l o m b o ) sent less
t h a n o n e - q u a r t e r o f i t s m i g r a n t s ( 2 3 . 4 p e r c e n t ) to o t h e r u r b a n l o c a t i o n s . P o l o n n a r u w a , s i t u a t e d i n the h e a r t o f the d r y z o n e , s e n t the
s m a l l e s t p r o p o r t i o n ( 1 7 . 8 p e r c e n t ) o f its m i g r a n t s to u r b a n areas.
O f the 21 d i s t r i c t s t h a t c o u l d a n d have b e e n s e n d i n g m i g r a n t s t o
urban C o l o m b o and other urban locations, nine (Matale, Mannar,
32
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Amparai, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Polonn a r u w a , a n d M o n a r a g a l a ) sent relatively m o r e migrants to o t h e r u r b a n
places than to u r b a n C o l o m b o . E x c e p t f o r M a t a l e and M o n a r a g a l a ,
t h e s e d i s t r i c t s are i n the d r y z o n e ; M o n a r a g a l a is a n a m b i g u o u s case
b e c a u s e it is s i t u a t e d o n t h e b o r d e r s o f b o t h z o n e s a n d has h a d its
t o p o g r a p h y a n d e c o n o m y a f f e c t e d b y the g o v e r n m e n t ' s l a n d d e v e l o p m e n t p r o g r a m . O n l y 9.7 p e r c e n t o f a l l m i g r a n t s o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m these
n i n e districts reached u r b a n C o l o m b o ; 17.7 p e r c e n t settled i n other
u r b a n l o c a t i o n s . W h e n t h e base o f c o m p u t a t i o n is r e d u c e d t o a l l u r b a n b o u n d m i g r a n t s f r o m these d i s t r i c t s , t h e p r o p o r t i o n h e a d i n g f o r u r b a n
C o l o m b o was 3 5 . 4 p e r c e n t , c o m p a r e d w i t h 6 4 . 6 p e r c e n t g o i n g t o
o t h e r u r b a n p l a c e s . E x p r e s s e d as a " p o p u l a t i o n at risk" o f m i g r a t i n g
to u r b a n places in the c o u n t r y , o n l y 55 migrants w e n t to u r b a n C o l o m b o whereas 100 o f them migrated to other urban locations. T h u s ,
at least a m o n g these n i n e d i s t r i c t s , the m a j o r i t y o f w h i c h are s i t u a t e d
i n the d r y z o n e , a l m o s t t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e u r b a n - b o u n d m i g r a n t s m o v e d
to o t h e r urban localities outside C o l o m b o District. Perhaps the rural
n a t u r e o f m o s t o f these d i s t r i c t s o f o r i g i n c o u p l e d w i t h the r e l a t i v e l y
l o n g d i s t a n c e to C o l o m b o m a y h a v e d i s c o u r a g e d m a n y m i g r a n t s f r o m
undertaking a journey directly to C o l o m b o .
U r b a n C o l o m b o r e c e i v e d the o v e r w h e l m i n g m a j o r i t y o f m i g r a n t s
f r o m the r e m a i n i n g 12 d i s t r i c t s , a n d t h e s e , as m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , are
t h e b u l k s u p p l i e r s t o the n a t i o n a l m i g r a n t p o o l . H o w e v e r , it is i m p o r t a n t t o e m p h a s i z e t h a t t h i s assessment o f l i f e t i m e m i g r a t i o n d a t a
o f 1971 c o m p l e m e n t s d o c u m e n t a t i o n o f t h e g r o w t h o f s m a l l t o w n s i n
Sri L a n k a ( A b e y s e k e r a , 1980). A n a l y s i s o f lifetime m i g r a t i o n figures
d o e s a d d c r e d e n c e to the p i c t u r e o f d e c e n t r a l i z e d u r b a n i z a t i o n t h a t
has d e v e l o p e d n a t i o n a l l y , e s p e c i a l l y i n p o s t i n d e p e n d e n t S r i L a n k a :
these d a t a s u p p o r t the c o n c l u s i o n t h a t the m u s h r o o m i n g o f u r b a n l o c a l i t i e s i n the c o u n t r y was n o t a m e r e a r t i f a c t r e s u l t i n g f r o m m i n i s t e r i a l d e c r e e , b u t r a t h e r the result o f a c t u a l m i g r a t i o n . T h i s m i g r a t i o n
p a r t l y r e l i e v e d the " m i s e r y " t h a t u r b a n C o l o m b o w o u l d h a v e s u f f e r e d
i f the o n l y a l t e r n a t i v e was to a b s o r b all o f t h e u r b a n - b o u n d m i g r a n t s .
T a b l e 14 reveals the age-sex s t r u c t u r e o f the f o u r m i g r a t i o n s t r e a m s ,
all l i f e t i m e m i g r a n t s , a n d n o n m i g r a n t s i n S r i L a n k a . T h e h i g h e s t p r o p o r t i o n s o f m a l e s a n d f e m a l e s are f o u n d i n the 2 0 — 2 4 age g r o u p , w i t h
t w o e x c e p t i o n s - a m o n g f e m a l e s i n the " o t h e r r u r a l " g r o u p a n d a m o n g
n o n m i g r a n t s , w h e r e the h i g h e s t p r o p o r t i o n was in the a d j a c e n t o l d e r
age g r o u p o f 2 5 — 2 9 . O n c e a g a i n , the s i n g l e m o s t c o n s i s t e n t b e h a v i o r
Lifetime
Migration,
1971
33
p a t t e r n o f m i g r a n t s o n a c r o s s - c u l t u r a l scale a p p e a r s to be s u b s t a n t i a t e d i n S r i L a n k a , i r r e s p e c t i v e o f the p l a c e o f d e s t i n a t i o n o f the m i g r a n t s t r e a m : M i g r a n t s t e n d t o be y o u n g a d u l t s ( T h o m a s , 1 9 3 8 ; B r o w n i n g , 1 9 7 1 ) . H o w e v e r , the age d a t a f o r S r i L a n k a d o n o t n e c e s s a r i l y
r e f l e c t age at m i g r a t i o n . In p r a c t i c a l l y e v e r y d e s t i n a t i o n a n d f o r b o t h
s e x e s , there is an a l m o s t m o n o t o n i c rise f r o m the y o u n g e s t age g r o u p
to the m o d a l age g r o u p o f 2 0 - 2 4 , a n d t h e n an e q u a l l y m o n o t o n i c
d e c l i n e i n t o the o l d e r ages.
T w o m e a s u r e s o f v a r i a b i l i t y are p r e s e n t e d in the last t w o r o w s o f
T a b l e 1 4 , the s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n a n d the i n d e x o f d i s s i m i l a r i t y . F o r
e a c h d e s t i n a t i o n the greatest v a r i a b i l i t y a m o n g m a l e m i g r a n t g r o u p s
was a m o n g the u r b a n C o l o m b o - d e s t i n e d m i g r a n t s ( s . d . = 4 . 4 ) a n d the
least was a m o n g t h o s e w h o s e t t l e d in o t h e r r u r a l areas ( s . d . = 1.7). T h e
o t h e r u r b a n - b o u n d m a l e m i g r a n t s s h o w e d less v a r i a b i l i t y t h a n t h e i r
r u r a l d r y z o n e - b o u n d c o u n t e r p a r t s . In the case o f f e m a l e m i g r a n t s , the
range o f v a r i a b i l i t y was less t h a n a m o n g the m a l e s , s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n
r a n g i n g b e t w e e n 3.3 a n d 2 . 6 ; in c o n t r a s t , the r u r a l d r y z o n e - b o u n d
f e m a l e s s h o w e d the greatest v a r i a b i l i t y , c l o s e l y f o l l o w e d b y t h o s e
reaching urban C o l o m b o .
T h e index of dissimilarity, w h i c h indicates what p r o p o r t i o n of sexd e s t i n a t i o n s p e c i f i c " c a s e s " h a v e t o be r e d i s t r i b u t e d t o a c h i e v e t h e
" s t a n d a r d " d i s t r i b u t i o n , reveals t h a t , a m o n g m a l e s , u r b a n C o l o m b o
was least l i k e the n a t i o n a l p o o l ( i . d . = 1 0 . 5 ) b u t the o t h e r u r b a n w e r e
c l o s e s t t o i t . ( i . d . = 3 . 9 ) . T h e v a r i a b i l i t y o f the i n d e x was less a m o n g fem a l e s ( f r o m 5.7 to 3 . 9 ) , b u t f e m a l e s in o t h e r u r b a n areas d i f f e r e d m o s t
f r o m the n a t i o n a l p o o l o f f e m a l e m i g r a n t s .
T h e sex r a t i o ( n u m b e r o f m a l e s p e r 1 0 0 f e m a l e s ) was h i g h e s t f o r the
urban C o l o m b o - b o u n d migrant stream (152) and most " n o r m a l " for
the m i g r a n t s i n o t h e r n i r a l areas ( 9 9 ) . E x a m i n i n g the sex r a t i o s o f the
o t h e r t w o d e s t i n a t i o n s , h o w e v e r , o n e d i s c o v e r s that a r e l a t i v e bias tow a r d " n o r m a l c y " was n o t s y n o n y m o u s w i t h a r u r a l d e s t i n a t i o n ; m i g r a n t s in o t h e r u r b a n l o c a l i t i e s h a d a l o w e r sex r a t i o (1 2 6 ) t h a n d i d
t h o s e in the r u r a l d r y z o n e ( 1 3 9 ) .
A m o n g u r b a n C o l o m b o m i g r a n t s , the h i g h e s t sex r a t i o w a s i n the
age g r o u p o f 2 0 — 2 4 , w h i c h h a d the largest p r o p o r t i o n o f m i g r a n t s .
T h o u g h there is m i n u t e i r r e g u l a r i t y i n a m o n o t o n i c rise a n d d e c l i n e
o n e i t h e r s i d e o f the 2 0 - 2 4 age g r o u p p e a k , m i g r a n t s i n u r b a n C o l o m b o s h o w a m u c h s m o o t h e r d i s t r i b u t i o n o f the a g e - b y - s e x r a t i o
c u r v e t h a n d o e s a n y o t h e r g r o u p o f m i g r a n t s ( F i g u r e 1).
34
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
T A B L E 14 S e x r a t i o s a n d p e r c e n t a g e d i s t r i b u t i o n s o f s e l e c t e d l i f e t i m e
L i f c l i m c migrants
Rural dry zone
Urban Colombo
Age group
Male
Female
Sex
ratio
0-4
1.9
3.0
6.0
10.3
2.7
4.7
7.8
9.5
107
97
117
16.8
14.2
10.6
8.8
7.6
6.2
4.7
3.4
12.6
11.9
9.5
9.7
7.4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
6.2
4.9
4.0
9.2
181
170
138
156
152
146
129
110
31.5
60+
6.5
Standard deviation
4.4
3.1
10.5
4.7
Index of dissimilarity
165
203
—
Male
3.2
4.8
6.9
9.3
13.9
12.4
9.6
9.2
7.5
6.9
4.8
4.1
Other urban
Female
Sex
ratio
Male
Female
4.6
6.9
8.0
97
97
120
4.1
6.6
9.4
4.9
7.9
10.2
9.9
13.9
13.0
9.5
9.3
6.5
6.3
3.7
131
139
133
141
11.2
124
11.0
11.5
11.1
138
161
152
7.3
3.5
5.1
181
163
199
3.2
3.3
29.5
4.6
3.9
—
10.6
8.5
8.7
7.0
6.2
4.6
3.8
6.9
9.2
8.5
6.2
5.7
4.2
3.1
6.4
27
2.8
3.9
5.7
T h e s e sex r a t i o s reveal t h a t i n g e n e r a l m a l e m i g r a t i o n has b e e n
characteristic o f l i f e t i m e m i g r a t i o n streams in Sri L a n k a , irrespective
o f d e s t i n a t i o n . T h e level o f m a s c u l i n i t y was h i g h e s t i n 1971 f o r t h e
m o s t u r b a n d e s t i n a t i o n , C o l o m b o , b u t it was n o t t o o d i f f e r e n t f r o m
t h a t o f the s t r e a m t o the r u r a l d r y z o n e . It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h i s m a l e
s e l e c t i v i t y was s t i m u l a t e d b y a d e m a n d f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l wage l a b o r i n
the r e c e n t l y o p e n e d c o l o n i z a t i o n areas. If relative d y n a m i s m o f t h e
d e s t i n a t i o n has a n y e f f e c t o n t h e degree o f m a l e m i g r a t i o n i n S r i
L a n k a , t h e n the o t h e r u r b a n areas d o n o t a p p e a r t o h a v e b e e n as a c tive as t h e d r y z o n e b e c a u s e t h e y h a d l o w e r sex r a t i o s . O t h e r r u r a l
areas s e e m e d to a t t r a c t m o s t l y f a m i l i a l t y p e s o f m i g r a n t s o r m a r r i a g e
migrants.
B e c a u s e t h e r e are f o u r m a j o r d e s t i n a t i o n s o f m i g r a n t s i n S r i L a n k a ,
1 have n o t a t t e m p t e d t o g o b e y o n d m a k i n g a g e n e r a l i z e d o b s e r v a t i o n
o f the selectivity o f y o u n g adults in migrant streams. T h e presence o f
a d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y h i g h s h a r e o f m i g r a n t s at a p a r t i c u l a r d e s t i n a t i o n
Lifetime
Migration,
35
197J
m i g r a n t s t r e a m s a n d n o n m i g r a n t s b y age a n d s e x : S r i L a n k a , 1971
Nonmigrants
Other rural
Sex
ratio
Male
105
105
116-
5.3
7.4
8.7
128
136
120
116
129
142
137
8.9
9.8
9.2
8.4
Female
5.2
6.7
7.7
11.3
8.4
12.4
Sri Lanka
Sex
ratio
101
109
112
78
115
73 '
85
88
104
8.6
7.4
9.8
9.7
7.0
138
154
7.0
5.1
4.6
6.3
4.4
3.7
136
9.5
7.2
123
130
14.7
1.7
2.6
-
5.5
4.1
110
114
Male
4.2
6.0
8.0
9.6
12.2
10.9
9.0
8.8
7.4
6.7
4.9
4.2
Sri Lanka
Female
Sex
ratio
4.7
6.6
8.1
8.9
12.1
12.2
9.6
9.5
104
6.9
6.2
4.4
105
114
125
117
104
109
107
124
Male
13.1
13.1
12.8
10.6
9.4
7.1
125
129
5.6
5.5
4.8
4.4
3.5
Fc
male
Sex
ratio
13.4
13.4
103
102
105
101
98
98
104
12.8
10.9
10.1
7.6
5.7
5.8
4.4
4.2
3.2
101
113
111
114
113
121
8.2
3.6
7.1
135
134
3.0
6.9
2.6
5.9
17.6
2.5
2.7
11.5
3.7
4.0
7.2
-
-
-
-
22.0
22.2
-
does n o t necessarily warrant a s t a t e m e n t o f high selectivity f o r a part i c u l a r c a t e g o r y o f a s e l e c t e d v a r i a b l e . It has to be e x a m i n e d a f t e r
" s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n " f o r the " p o p u l a t i o n at r i s k . " F o r this p u r p o s e , I
s u b t r a c t e d the n a t i o n a l a g e - s e x - s p e c i f i c p r o p o r t i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n f r o m
the r e s p e c t i v e a g e - s e x - s p e c i f i c d e s t i n a t i o n s a n d d i v i d e d the d i f f e r e n c e
b y the p r o p o r t i o n o f the n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n , e x p r e s s e d as a p e r c e n t age. T h e s e p e r c e n t a g e s a p p e a r i n T a b l e 15 a n d are r e p r e s e n t e d i n F i g u r e s 2 a n d 3. A m i n u s s i g n d e n o t e s t h e d e s e l e c t i v i t y o f a p a r t i c u l a r
age-sex c a t e g o r y . A l t h o u g h t h e r e is a l e g i t i m a t e q u e s t i o n o f t h e a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s o f u s i n g the 1971 n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n age p r o p o r t i o n s as
the s t a n d a r d f o r l i f e t i m e m i g r a t i o n d a t a , T m a d e the c h o i c e b e c a u s e
the t w o d i s t r i b u t i o n s p e r t a i n t o t h e s a m e t i m e a n d e x a m i n a t i o n o f the
age d i s t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n at the t h r e e p r e c e d i n g
c e n s u s e s s h o w s t h a t the average o f t h e f o u r c e n s u s e s w o u l d n o t d e v i a t e
a p p r e c i a b l y f r o m the r e l a t i v e age-sex d i s t r i b u t i o n o f 1 9 7 1 .
A variable selectivity prevails a m o n g the five age-sex-specific
36
Intercensal and Lifetime Migration in Sri Lanka
F I G U R E 1 A g e - s p e c i f i c sex r a t i o s o f l i f e t i m e m i g r a n t s b y s e l e c t e d
destinations: Sri L a n k a , 1971
m i g r a n t g r o u p s w h e n this k i n d o f e l e m e n t a r y s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n is
e f f e c t e d . A d m i t t e d l y these l i f e t i m e d a t a d o n o t p e r t a i n t o t h e s i t u a t i o n at t h e t i m e o f m i g r a t i o n . T h i s f a c t , h o w e v e r , does n o t n e g a t e t h e
repeated observation of high selectivity of y o u n g adults in migrant
s t r e a m s . I n s o f a r as the l i f e t i m e d a t a d o p e r t a i n to the o c c u r r e n c e o f
m i g r a t i o n a n d r e t e n t i o n o f m i g r a n t s i n the areas o f d e s t i n a t i o n , s o m e
i d e a o f t h e r e s u l t i n g d e m o g r a p h i c s t r u c t u r e o f the d e s t i n a t i o n s c a n b e
g a i n e d . I f o n e a d o p t s the h y p o t h e s i s t h a t d y n a m i s m is n e g a t i v e l y
T A B L E 15
" S t a n d a r d i z e d " age-sex-specific selectivity of l i f e t i m e migrants by selected
Sri L a n k a , 1971
destinations:
Urban Colombo
Rural dry zone
Other urban
Other rural
Sri Lanka
Age group
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
0-4
-85.4
-79.7
-75.4
-65.4
-68.5
-63.2
-59.2
-60.9
-67.7
-64.7
5-9
-76.9
-64.9
-63.1
-48.5
-49.2
-41.0
-43.1
-50.0
-53.8
-50.7
10-14
-52.4
-39.1
-45.2
-37.5
-25.4
-20.3
-31.0
-39.8
-36.5
-36.7
15-19
-1.9
-12.8
-11.4
-9.2
6.7
0.9
-15.2
3.7
-8.6
-18.3
20-24
71.4
23.5
41.8
36.3
26.5
12.7
00.0
17.6
24.5
18.6
25-29
94.5
54.5
69.9
68.8
45.2
44.2
26.0
61.0
49.3
58.4
30-34
82.8
66.7
65.5
66.7
46.6
61.4
44.8
71.9
55.2
68.4
35-39
57.1
67.2
64.3
60.3
55.4
46.6
53.6
67.2
57.1
63.8
40-44
58.3
68.2
56.3
47.7
45.8
40.9
54.2
59.1
54.2
56.8
45-49
40.9
51.2
56.8
53.7
40.9
39.0
59.1
53.7
52.3
51.2
50-54
34.3
58.1
37.1
19.4
31.4
35.5
45.7
41.9
40.0
41,9
55-59
17.2
53.8
41.4
34.6
31.0
19.2
58.6
42.3
44.8
38.5
60+
12.1
55.9
25.9
-13.6
19.0
8.5
63.8
22.0
41.4
20.3
S O U R C E : C o m p u t e d from E S C A P (1975: tables 30, 31,
32).
F I G U R E 2 " S t a n d a r d i z e d " age-specific selectivity pattern o f male lifetime migrants b y selected
destinations: Sri L a n k a , 1971
F I G U R E 3 " S t a n d a r d i z e d " age-specific selectivity pattern o f female lifetime migrants b y selected
destinations: Sri L a n k a , 1971
40
Intercensal
and Lifetime
Migration
in Sri
Lanka
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the age s t r u c t u r e o f m i g r a n t s , t h e n u r b a n C o l o m b o
e m e r g e s as the m o s t d y n a m i c d e s t i n a t i o n , f o l l o w e d b y the r u r a l d r y
z o n e , as t h e f o l l o w i n g e v i d e n c e reveals.
A m o n g the m a l e m i g r a n t s , t h e r e is f o r m i d a b l e d e s e l e c t i v i t y o f a l l
age g r o u p s f r o m z e r o t h r o u g h 1 9 , e x c e p t f o r ages 1 5 — 1 9 i n o t h e r u r b a n areas. A l t h o u g h t h e r e is v e r y h i g h s e l e c t i v i t y a m o n g t h e
20-24
y e a r - o l d s i n u r b a n C o l o m b o ( 7 1 . 4 ) , t h e r e is n o s e l e c t i v i t y o f t h e s a m e
age g r o u p o f m a l e m i g r a n t s s e t t l i n g i n o t h e r r u r a l areas ( 0 . 0 ) . S t r o n g e s t
s e l e c t i v i t y is e x e r t e d u p o n the 2 0 - 3 4 age g r o u p o f m a l e s i n u r b a n
C o l o m b o , o n the 2 5 - 3 9 age g r o u p i n t h e rural d r y z o n e , o n the 2 5 - 4 9
g r o u p i n o t h e r u r b a n areas, a n d o n t h e 3 0 - 6 0
a n d o v e r g r o u p in o t h e r
r u r a l areas. T h e m o d a l s t r e n g t h o f s e l e c t i v i t y is f o u n d a m o n g t h e 3 5 —
3 9 age g r o u p o f m a l e m i g r a n t s ( 5 7 . 1 ) , a d e f i n i t e d e v i a n t f r o m t h e i d e a l
" y o u n g a d u l t . " W h e n m a l e m i g r a n t s 5 0 y e a r s o l d a n d o l d e r are c o n s i d e r e d , b o t h r u r a l d e s t i n a t i o n s have g r e a t e r s e l e c t i v i t y t h a n e i t h e r o f
the u r b a n d e s t i n a t i o n s f o r e a c h c a t e g o r y , a f i n d i n g t h a t suggests a k i n d
o f p r e f e r e n t i a l r e t i r e m e n t m i g r a t i o n t o the h i n t e r l a n d .
A s i m i l a r p a t t e r n o f d e s e l e c t i v i t y is f o u n d a m o n g m o s t y o u n g f e m a l e
g r o u p s z e r o t h r o u g h age 1 9 ; o t h e r u r b a n a n d o t h e r r u r a l d e s t i n a t i o n s
have a l m o s t n e g l i g i b l e s e l e c t i v i t y o n the 1 5—19 age g r o u p . A c o m p a r a b l e p a t t e r n o f age s e l e c t i v i t y a m o n g m a l e m i g r a n t s is n o t f o u n d
a m o n g f e m a l e s . S t r o n g s e l e c t i v i t y a p p e a r s t o be e x e r t e d u p o n the age
g r o u p s 2 5 - 4 4 at l e a s t , i n all d e s t i n a t i o n s . In c o n t r a s t t o t h e m a l e m i g r a n t s o f u r b a n C o l o m b o , w h o e x h i b i t an i n v e r s e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n
s t r e n g t h o f s e l e c t i v i t y a n d age a m o n g the a d u l t g r o u p s , t h e f e m a l e s
d e p i c t a n e g l i g i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p ( r a n g i n g b e t w e e n 5 1 . 2 a n d 6 8 . 2 ) . Is t h e
a t t r a c t i o n o f u r b a n C o l o m b o for female migrants e x p l a i n e d by a disp r o p o r t i o n a t e s h a r e o f m a r r i a g e m i g r a t i o n , o r is u r b a n C o l o m b o t h e
o n l y l o c a l e t h a t has d e v e l o p e d a d e m a n d f o r m o d e r n - s e c t o r e m p l o y m e n t o u t s i d e the h o m e f o r m a r r i e d w o m e n ? T h e s e q u e s t i o n s r e q u i r e
s t u d y based o n data other than those derived f r o m n a t i o n a l censuses.
A m o n g the f o u r o t h e r g r o u p s o f a d u l t f e m a l e m i g r a n t s , t h e age
g r o u p s o v e r 5 0 y e a r s s h o w p e r c e p t i b l e d e c l i n e s i n s t r e n g t h o f select i v i t y in c o m p a r i s o n t o the m i d d l e r a n g e o f the age c o n t i n u u m . T h e
r u r a l d r y z o n e , i n f a c t , r e c o r d s an a c t u a l d e s e l e c t i v i t y o f t h e o l d e s t
f e m a l e s , d u e p e r h a p s to the p e r s i s t e n c e o f the S o u t h A s i a n p a t t e r n o f
l i f e e x p e c t a n c y a l l u d e d t o b y E l B a d r y ( 1 9 6 9 ) i n t h e least d e v e l o p e d
r e g i o n o f t h e c o u n t r y . H i g h rates o f f e r t i l i t y , c o m p a r a t i v e l y d e f i c i e n t
m e d i c a l c a r e , a n d s y s t e m a t i c u n d e r n o u r i s h m e n t o f a d u l t f e m a l e s (a
Lifetime
Migration,
1971
41
c o n s e q u e n c e o f the c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n p r e v a l e n t i n the c o u n t r y s i d e ,
w h i c h i d e a l i z e s the w i f e f e e d i n g h e r h u s b a n d a n d f a m i l y b e f o r e h e r self) perhaps j o i n t l y a c c o u n t for this p h e n o m e n o n .
CONCLUDING
REMARKS
M i g r a t i o n d a t a o n S r i L a n k a reveal t w o d o m i n a n t s t r e a m s o f r e s e t t l e m e n t , o n e to u r b a n C o l o m b o a n d the o t h e r t o the r u r a l d r y z o n e ; t h e
m a s s i v e i n - m i g r a t i o n t o the r u r a l d r y z o n e , e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g the p e a k
p e r i o d o f the o p e n i n g u p o f n e w p a d d y l a n d d u r i n g the d e c a d e o f
1 9 5 3 - 6 3 ; and a formidable stream o f urban-born migrants heading
t o w a r d the h i n t e r l a n d as e a r l y as 1 9 4 6 . T h e r e l a t i v e l y s l o w r a t e o f u r b a n i z a t i o n , t h e g r o w t h o f s m a l l t o w n s , a n d the e m e r g e n t p a t t e r n o f
d e c e n t r a l i z e d u r b a n i z a t i o n have been d o c u m e n t e d elsewhere ( A b e y s e k e r a , 1 9 8 0 ) . T h i s p a t t e r n o f m i g r a t i o n a n d u r b a n i z a t i o n m u s t be
p l a c e d w i t h i n the c o n t e x t o f the h i s t o r y a n d the p o l i t i c a l e c o n o m y o f
the c o u n t r y . T h e h y d r a u l i c p a s t , the c o l o n i a l h e r i t a g e w i t h its a l l - t o o f a m i l i a r d e p e n d e n c e u p o n a m o n o c u l t u r e , the o p e r a n t d e m o c r a t i c
f r a m e w o r k o f the p o l i t y , adverse balance o f trade, f o o d subsidies a n d
o t h e r w e l f a r e m e a s u r e s , all are l i n k e d t o t h e c u r r e n t r e a l i t i e s o f m i g r a t i o n ( a n d u r b a n i z a t i o n ) in Sri L a n k a . T h e future pattern o f these t w o
p r o c e s s e s w i l l u n d o u b t e d l y be a f f e c t e d b y t h e e f f i c a c y o f w h a t e v e r
n a t i o n a l p o l i c y is p u r s u e d . T h e s t u d y o f past p a t t e r n s o f m i g r a t i o n is
t h u s i n v a l u a b l e i f t h e p o l i c y m a k e r s are to have s o m e c o n t r o l o v e r t h e
long-term effects p r o d u c e d by the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f n a t i o n a l p o l i c y .
A P P E N D I X 1 Population schedule: Census of Sri Lanka, 1971
1971 Poputiilion and Housing Census
Population Schedule (Special)
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A P P E N D I X 2 Tree diagram indicating the m e t h o d o f selecting different types o f j i f e t i m e migrants
f r o m 1971 census data
References
45
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54
Effects of program contraception on fertility: a comparison of three Asian countries, by
Siew-Ean K h o o , September 1978, ix + 58 pp.
55
Population projections for planning and policy, by William Brass, September 1978, v +
16 pp.
56
Spatial fertility analysis in a limited data situation: the case of Pakistan, by Gary fuller
and Mohammad M. K h a n , October 1978, vii + 20 pp.
57
Infant and child mortality in Thailand: levels, trends, and differentials as derived through
indirect estimation techniques, by John Knodel and Apichat Chamratrithirong, November 1978, vii + 40 pp.
58
Regression estimates of changes in fertility, 1 9 5 5 - 6 0 to 1 9 6 5 - 7 5 , for most major nations and territories, by James A . Palmorc, December 1 978, vii + 59 pp.
59
Comparison of three acceptance strategies: a progress report, by Robert G . Potter,
F ranees E. K o b r i n , and Raymond L. Langsten, February 1979, vii + 1 6 pp.
60-A
O n the nature of the transition in the value of children, by Rodolfo A. Bulatao, March
1979, xvi + 104 pp.
61
Prediction of family planning and family size from modernity value orientations of
Indian women, by Bishwa Nath Mukherjee, April 1979, v + 50 pp.
62
Issues in the comparative analysis of World Fertility Survey data, by Ronald Frecdman,
July 1979, v + 22 pp.
60-B
Further evidence of the transition in the value of children, by Rodolfo A . Bulatao, November 1979, vii * 84 pp.
63
Own-children estimates of fertility for Thailand based on the 1970 Census, by Robert D.
Retherford, Chintana Pcjaranonda, Lee-Jay C h o , Apichat Chamratrithirong, and Fred
A r n o l d , November 1979, vii + 52 pp.
64
Socioeconomic and cultural aspects of marriage and fertility in urban Pakistan, by Mehtab
S. Karim, December 1979,v + 26 pp.
65
Voluntary sterilization: its demographic impact in relation to other contraceptive methods, by Dorothy L. Nortman, January 1980, vii + 23 pp.
66
Prevalence and demographic significance of contraceptive sterilization in F i j i , the Republic of Korea, and Sri Lanka, by Charles F. Westoff, Noreen G o l d m a n , and Minja K i m
C h o c , April 1980, vii + 27 pp.
67
Urbanization and the growth of small towns in Sri Lanka, 1901—71, by Dayalal
Abeysekera, April 1980, v + 42 pp.
68
The intellectual's image of the city in Taiwan, by James Chan, May 1980, v + 22 pp.
69
Nuptiality in Thailand: a cross-sectional analysis of the 1970 Census, by Aphichat
Chamratrithirong, November 1980, vii + 55 pp.
60-C
The value of children to Australian, Greek, and Italian parents in Sydney, by V i c t o r J.
Callan, December 1980, vii + 60 pp.
70
Urbanization, education, and marriage patterns: four cases from Asia, by Peter C.
Smith and Mehtab S. Karim, December 1980, vii + 5 1 pp.
60-D
Two are not enough: the value of children to Javanese and Sundanese parents, by
Russell K. Darroch, Paul A. Meyer, and Masri Singarimbun, February 1981, viii + 86 pp.
71
Surveys of migration in developing countries: a methodological review, by Sidney
Goldstein and Alice Goldstein, April 1 981, v + 1 20 pp.
72
Filipinos on Oahu, Hawaii, by Benjamin V . Carino, July 1981, vii + 46 pp.
73
Nonfamilial roles of women and fertility: Pakistan and the Philippines compared, by
Nasra M . Shah and Peter C. Smith, July 1981, iv + 47 pp.
74
Korean immigration to the United States: its demographic pattern and social implications for both societies, by Hagen K o o and Eui-Young Y u , August 1981, v + 31 pp.
T H E E A S T - W E S T C E N T E R - o f f i c i a l l y known as the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West—is a national educational institution
established in Hawaii by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to promote better relations
and understanding between the United States and the nations of Asia and the
Pacific through cooperative study, training, and research. The Center is administered by a public, nonprofit corporation whose international Board of Governors consists of distinguished scholars, business leaders, and public servants.
Each year more than 1,500 men and women from many nations and cultures
participate in Center programs that seek cooperative solutions to problems of
mutual consequence to East and West. Working with the Center's multidisciplinary and multicultural staff, participants include visiting scholars and researchers;
leaders and professionals from the academic, government, and business communities; and graduate degree students, most of whom are enrolled at the University
of Hawaii. For each Center participant from the United States, two participants
are sought from the Asian and Pacific area.
Center programs are conducted by institutes addressing problems of communication, culture learning, environment and policy, population, and resource systems.
A limited number of " o p e n " grants are available to degree scholars and research
fellows whose academic interests arc not encompassed by institute programs.
The U.S. Congress provides basic funding for Center programs and a variety of
awards to participants. Because of the cooperative nature of Center programs,
financial support and cost-sharing arc also provided by Asian and Pacific governments, regional agencies, private enterprise, and foundations. The Center is on
land adjacent to and provided by the Unitersity of Hawaii.
T H E E A S T - W E S T P O P U L A T I O N INSTITUTE, established as a unit of the East-West
Center in 1969 with the assistance of a grant from the Agency for International
Development, carries out multidisciplinary research, training, and related activities in the field of population, placing emphasis on economic, social, psychological, and environmental aspects of population problems in Asia, the Pacific,
and the United States.