Haplotype data estimated from 12 Y-chromosomal STRs were obtained from a sample of 207 unrelated male individuals from Sri Lanka. A total of 195 different haplotypes were identified, of which 183 were unique. Haplotype diversity was found be high (0.9948+/-0.0012) indicating increased discriminating capacity of these 12 Y-STR loci in forensic identification of Sri Lankan individuals. DYS385, representing two loci, was the most diverse marker (0.853). The lowest diversity (0.351) was observed with DYS391.