Remote Lands
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Sri Lanka
Facts
Area:
Total: 40,770 sq miles
Land: 40,229 sq miles
Water: 541 sq miles
Climate:
Tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
Elevation Extremes:
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 ft
Highest point: Pidurutalagala 8,281 ft
Population:
20,222,240
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 provisional data)
Religions:
Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10%
Languages:
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
Country name
Conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Conventional short form: Sri Lanka
Former: Serendib, Ceylon
Government type:
Republic
Capital:
Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Independence:
4 February 1948 (from UK)
GDP – per capita (PPP):
$4,300 (2005 est.)
Currency:
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Time Zone:
GMT +5:30 hours
Country Dialing Code:
+94
Electricity:
230V 50HzHz