The Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent. They are Roman Catholic and spoke the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese. In modern times, English has become the common language while Sinhalese is taught in school as a second language. A large number of Portuguese Burghers living on the east coast of Sri Lanka are of Portuguese descent; this is evident in the Sri Lanka-Indo Portuguese language, which has many affiliations to Sinhalese and Portuguese. They are mixed with other Burgher people, including Dutch Burghers. However, Portuguese Burghers are not Dutch Burghers.