Sri Lanka at a Glance

• 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:Colombo
• 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 FlowerThe 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 Birth74 years for female, 64 years for 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 is five 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 force34.3% of the labour population is employed in agriculture, 25.3% in industry and 40.4% in services (30 June 2006 est.) The unemployment rate is 5.7% (2007 est.)
• Agriculture & productsRice, 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 nations with $22.8 billion (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