Facts and Figures of Sri Lanka
Official name : Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’s
Government Type : Republic
Location : Latitude 5° 55. to 9° 50. north, longitude 79° 42. to 81° 52., 650km north of the equator’s
Dimensions : 430km north to south, 225km east to westbound
Coastline : 1,340km
Currency : Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Independence : 4 February 1948
Administrative capital : Sri Jayewardenepura
Commercial 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 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 populations
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 stabilizers
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.
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