Sri Lanka at 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:	Sri Jayewardenepura
Commercial Capital:	Colombo
Administrative Divisions:	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% (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, 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, Coconuts, 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)