 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 |
| Currency |
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) |
| Independence |
4 February 1948 |
| Administrative capital |
Sri Jayewardenepura |
| Commercial capital |
Colombo |
| Attraction Places Listed |
501 Tourist Attraction Places |
| Other Places Listed |
3660 Other Places |
| Accommodation Listed |
1494 Accommodations |
| Administrative divisions |
9 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western, Eastern Province |
| Climate |
Typically tropical, with a northeast 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 |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| Time zone |
Sri Lanka Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. (Allowance should be made for summer-time changes in Europe.) |
| International dialing |
+94 or 0094 |
| 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 |
