About Sri Lanka

Location	Southern India, an Island in the Indian ocean
National Flag
Coat of arms
Administrative Information
Govenment	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Capital (Commercial)	Colombo
Capital (Legistative)	Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte
Administrative Divisions	8 Provinces (Central,North Central,North East,North Western,Sabaragamuwa,Southern,Uva,Western)
Independence	4th February 1948 (from United Kingdom)
President	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime Minister	Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Geographical Information
Geographic coordinates	5° 55'N – 9° 55' N and longitudes 79° 42' and 81° 52'
Area	65,610 Sqkm (25,332 Sq miles)
Maritime	1340 k.m.
Highest Point	Piduruthalagala (2524 m)
Land Use	Arable land  – 13.86 %     Permanent crops – 15.7 %     Irrigated Land – 6510Sqkm
Climate	Tropical monsoon     Northeast monsoon (December to March)     Southwest monsoon (June to October)
Population Information
Population(2005 Estimate)	20,743,000
Population Growth Rate	0.78%
Birth Rate	15.51 Births / 1000Population
Infant Mortality Rate	13.97 deaths / 1000 Live births
Life expectancy at birth	76.4 female, 71.7 male (2001 est)
Ethnic mix	73.8 % Sinhalese 8.5 % Tamil 7.2 % Moors 10.5 % Other
Religions	69.1 % Buddhist 7.1 % Hindu 6.2 % Christian 7.6 % Muslim 10 % Other
Literacy rate	92.5%(2003 est)
Economic Information
Labor Force	8.08 million
Unemployment Rate	8.4 %
Electricity Production	7.308 billionkWh
Electricity Consumption	6.796 billion kWh
Transportation Information
Railways	1449 km
Highways	11650 km
Ports – Harbors	Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
International Airports	1– Bandaranayake International airport
Other Information
Time Zone	GMT/UTC +5.5
Daylight Saving Start/End	Not in use
Currency	Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)
Calling Code	+94
Drives on the	Left
Internet TLD	.lk
Electricity	230-240V, 50 cycles