ABSTRACT
This chapter examines data on sex ratios as a key to possible causes of social and individual stress precipitated by voluntary internal migration in Sri Lanka. It presents the relationship between certain sociocultural variables–employment, literacy, and age at marriage–and sex ratios, and discusses the spouse separation as an important phenomenon related to highly unbalanced sex ratios in some parts of the island. The juvenile sex ratio for all of Sri Lanka in 1971 was 103.0, within the range of normalcy. The variation among districts in the total juvenile sex ratio is slight: from a low of 100.6 in Vavuniya to a high of 104.8 in Trincomalee. The amount of individual migration below the age of 10 years in Sri Lanka is probably negligible, but between the ages of 10 to 19, inter–district migration becomes important. Among the 10-19 year-olds, overall sex ratios extend from a low of 98.6 in Nuwara Eliya to a high of 115.3 in Vavuniya.
