---
name: locale-si-lk
description: Use when working with the Sinhala (Sri Lanka) locale (`si-LK`) — its endonym සිංහල (ශ්‍රී ලංකාව), Sinhala script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.
---

# Locale: Sinhala (Sri Lanka) (si-LK)

Reference data for the **Sinhala (Sri Lanka)** locale — endonym **සිංහල (ශ්‍රී ලංකාව)**, written in the Sinhala script, left-to-right (LTR).

## Identifiers

- **BCP 47 tag:** `si-LK`
- **ISO 639-1:** `si`
- **ISO 639-3:** `sin`
- **Script:** Sinh (Sinhala)
- **Region:** LK (Sri Lanka)
- **Text direction:** ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

## Speakers (approximate)

- **L1 (native):** 18,000,000
- **L2 (additional):** 2,000,000
- **L1+L2 (total):** 20,000,000

## Base locale

This is a regional variant of [[locale-si-001]] (Sinhala), the base/macro locale for this language.

## Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: **one**, **other** (2 forms).

- **one** — `n = 0,1 or i = 0 and f = 1` (e.g. 0, 1)
- **other** — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural messages using these categories.

## Translating into this locale

Apply [[locale-si-001]] with the conventions of Sri Lanka.

- **Context:** Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka, and English is the link language; many public documents are trilingual. Keep Sinhala and Tamil versions consistent (see [[locale-ta-001]]).
- **Formats:** Sri Lankan rupee (රු), dates DD/MM/YYYY; check CLDR `si-LK` for grouping; the Buddhist calendar and poya days affect schedules.
- **Tone:** polite and respectful; titles are used in public contexts.

## Common pitfalls

- Using only one language in public-sector content.
- Ignoring poya days in scheduling content.
- The general pitfalls in [[locale-si-001]] also apply.

## Learn more

- [[locale]] for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
- [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
- Unicode CLDR locale data for number grouping, calendars, and currency (https://cldr.unicode.org)