Sri Lanka

Geography

Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India. Area: 65,610 sq. km. Principal cities: Co­lombo, Sri Jayawardenepura, Kandy, Jaffna, and Trincomalee. Tourist at­tractions: Aukana, Dimbulagala, Panduwasnuwara, Ridi Vihara, and Uda Walawe National Park. Time zone: GMT + 5.5 hours.

People

Population: 20,926,3 15 (July 2007 est.). Population growth rate:
0.982% (2007 est.). Sex ratio: 0.971 male(s)/female (2007 est.). Religions: Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim. Languages: Sinhala (official and na­tional language), Tamil (national lan­guage), others. Literacy rate: Total 92.3%, Male 94.8%. Female 90% (2003 est.). Infant mortality rate: 19.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 74.8 years, Male 72.89 years, Female 76.88 years (2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Colombo. Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital. National anthem: Sri Lanka Matha. Gov­ernment           type:            Republic. Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK). Legal system: A mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese and customary law. Executive branch: Chief of state: President Mahinda Rajapaksa (since 19 November 2005). The president is considered both the chief of state and head of government. Election and election results: The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. The last elections were held on 17 November 2005 and the next elections are scheduled for December 2011. Legislative branch: Sri Lanka has a unicameral parliament of 225 seats and its members are elected by popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional representation system by district to serve six-year terms. Judicial branch: Supreme court; Court of appeals.

Economy

Currency: Sri Lankan rupee. Currency conversion: Sri Lankan rupee per Indian rupee 2.7619 (June 2007 est.)- GDP: Purchasing power parity—$95.55 billion (2006 est.). GDP—real growth rate: 7.5% (2006 est.). GDP—per capita: Purchasing power parity—$4,700 (2006 est.). Inflation rate: 12.1% (2006 est.). Exports: $7,076 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Imports: $9,655 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). External debt: $12.23 billion (2006 est.).

Transport and Communications

Railways: 1,449 km. Roads: 11,650 km. Airports: Bandaranaika International Airport. Telephones: 1.51 million (2006). Mobile cellular: 4.284 million (2006). Internet users: 200,000 (2002). Internet country code: Ik. ISD code: 94.