Sri Lanka - Country information


		Sri Lanka	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
20,926,315		total population: 74.8 years male: 72.81 years female: 76.88 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
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)		Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Languages		Literacy
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.3% male: 94.8% female: 90% (2003 est.)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
republic		Colombo

Independance		National day
4 February 1948 (from UK)		Independence Day, 4 February (1948)

Constitution		Legal system
adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978		a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Islamic, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$27.4 billion (2006 est.)		6.3% (2006 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$4,600 (2006 est.)		7.6% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
22% (2002 est.)		12.1% (2006 est.)

Exports		Imports
$7.076 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)		$9.655 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
$2.81 billion (2006 est.)		Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)

Military expenditures
2.6% (2006)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India		65,610 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)		limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower

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