Official Name:
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Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
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Government Type:
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Republic
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Location:
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Latitude 5° 55. to 9° 50. north, Longitude 79° 42. to 81° 52.,
650km north of the equator
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Dimensions:
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430km North to South, 225km East to West
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Coastline:
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1,340km
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Area:
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65,525km
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Currency (code):
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Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)
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Independence:
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4 February 1948
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Administrative Capital:
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Sri Jayewardenepura
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Commercial Capital:
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Colombo
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Administrative Divisions:
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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
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Terrain:
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Mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central
interior
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Highest Mountain:
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Pidurutalagala, 2,524m
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Highest Waterfall:
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Bambarakanda, 263m
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National Flower
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The Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellata).
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National Parks and Nature
Reserves Area:
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8,000sq.km
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Population:
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21,128,773
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Population Growth Rate:
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1.3%
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Population Density:
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309 people per sq km
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Life Expectancy at Birth
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74 female, 64 male
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Literacy Rate :
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Female 87.9 Male 92.5
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Ethnic Groups:
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Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri
Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census)
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Languages:
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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
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Religion:
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Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%,
unspecified 10% (2001 census)
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Time Zone:
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Sri Lanka Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. (Allowance should be made
for summer-time changes in Europe.)
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International Dialing:
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+94
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Electricity:
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230 . 240 volts, 50 cycles AC. If you travel with a laptop
computer bring a stabilizer
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Economy:
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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.
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Labour Force
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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.)
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Agriculture &
Products
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Rice, Sugarcane, Grains, Pulses, Oilseed, Spices, Tea, Rubber,
Coconuts, milk, Eggs, Hides, Beef, Fish
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Industries:
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Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other
agricultural commodities, telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing,
textiles, cement, petroleum refining.
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Exports:
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Textiles and apparel; tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds,
rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
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Imports:
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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)
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Gross Domestic Product
(GDP):
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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%
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Gross National Product
(GNP):
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Sri Lanka is placed in 76th place in GNP figures of the
world.s nations with
$22.8 billion
(2005)
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Flag Description:
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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
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