Sri Lanka - Facts & Stats
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Sri Lanka National Anthem (English)- pdf* |
Location:
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Country Name:
conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Serendib, Ceylon
Nationality:
noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan
Capital:
Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Flag Description:
The flag of Sri Lanka is 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. The color yellow and the four Bo leaves refer to Buddhism, which is the major religion in Sri Lanka. The two stripes, green and orange, represent the muslim and tamil community, respectively. http://www.ceylon-online.com/info_page.html
The lion symbolizes Sri Wickrema Rajasingha, the last Sinhala King of Sri Lanka
Government Type:
Republic
Administrative Divisions:
8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western,
Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western; note - North Eastern province may have been divided in two - Northern and Eastern
Independence:
February 4, 1948 (from UK)
Language:
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Ethnic Groups:
Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
Religion:
Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
Population:
19,576,783
note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of mid-1999, approximately 66,000 were housed in 133 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West (July 2002 est.)
Population Growth Rate:
.85% (2002 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 25.6% (male 2,559,246; female 2,446,393)
15-64 years: 67.7% (male 6,446,320; female 6,802,515)
65 years and over: 6.7% (male 628,398; female 693,911) (2002 est.)
Life Expectancy:
male: 70 years ; female: 75 years (2002 est.)
Literacy rate:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.2%
male: 93.4%
female: 87.2% (1995 est.)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
$62.7 billion (2001 est.)
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Currency:
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR; 93.4LKR=1USD)
Area:
25,332 sq. miles (slightly larger than West Virginia)
Climate:
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest
monsoon (June to October)
Terrain:
mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Natural Resources:
limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower
