| Official name: |
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka |
| Government type: |
republic |
| Location: |
Latitude 5° 55. to 9° 50. north, longitude 79° 42. to 81° 52., 650km north of the equator |
| Dimensions: |
430km north to south, 225km east to west |
| Coastline: |
1,340km |
| Area: |
65,525km |
| Currency (code): |
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) |
| Independence: |
4 February 1948 |
| Administrative capital: |
Sri Jayewardenepura |
| Commercial capital: |
Colombo
|
| Administrative divisions: |
9 provinces; Central, North Central, Northern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western, Eastern Province. |
| Climate: |
Typically tropical, with anortheast monsoon (December to March) bringing unsettled weather to the north and east, and a southwest monsoon (June to October) bringing bad weather to the south and west |
| Terrain: |
Mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior |
| Highest mountain: |
Pidurutalagala, 2,524m |
| Highest waterfall: |
Bambarakanda, 263m |
| National Flower |
The Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellata). |
| National parks and nature reserves area: |
8,000sq.km |
| Population: |
21,128,773 (? Census) |
| Population growth rate: |
1.3% |
| Population Density: |
309 people per sq km |
| Life Expectancy at Birth |
74 female, 64 male |
| Literacy rate : |
Female 87.9 Male 92.5 |
| Ethnic groups: |
Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census) |
| Languages: |
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
Note: English (a link language commonly) is used in government and spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| Religion: |
Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census) |
| Time zone: |
Sri Lanka Standard Time isfive and a half hours ahead of GMT. (Allowance should be made for summer-time changes in Europe.) |
| International dialing: |
+94
|
| Electricity: |
230 . 240 volts, 50 cycles AC. If you travel with a laptop computer bring a stabilizer
|
| Economy: |
Sri Lanka.s most dynamic sectors are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, port construction, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2006, plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (90% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for more than 60%. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% of them in the Middle East. They send home more than US$1 billion a year. |
| Labour force |
34.3% of the labour population is employed in agriculture, 25.3% in industry and 40.4% in services: 40.4% (30 June 2006 est.) The unemployment rate is 5.7% (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture & products |
Rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconutsm milk, eggs, hides, beef, fish |
| Industries: |
Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining. |
| Exports: |
Textiles and apparel; tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
|
| Imports: |
Main import commodities are textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment: $10.61 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.). Percentage of main commodities from main import partners: India 19.6%, China 10.5%, Singapore 8.8%, Iran 5.7%, Malaysia 5.1%, Hong Kong 4.2%, Japan 4.1% (2006) |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP): |
Purchasing power parity: $81.29 billion (2007 est.). Official exchange rate: $30.01 billion (2007 est.) Real growth rate: 6.3% (2007 est.) Per capita: $4,100 (2007 est.) composition by sector: Agriculture: 16.5% Industry: 26.9%
|
| Gross National Product (GNP): |
Sri Lanka is placed in 76th place in GNP figures of the world.s nationswith $22.8billion (2005)
|
| Flag description: |
yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border around the entire flag and extends between the two panels |
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