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Sri Lanka | | President: Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005)
Prime Minister: Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka (2005)
Land area: 24,996 sq mi (64,740 sq km); total area: 25,332 sq mi (65,610 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 21,324,791 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.5/1000; life expectancy: 75.1; density per sq mi: 809
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Colombo, 2,436,000 (metro. area), 656,100 (city proper). Legislative and judicial capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, 118,300
Other large cities: Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 214,300; Moratuwa, 181,000; Kandy, 112,400
Monetary unit: Sri Lanka rupee |
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| | | Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India, Sri Lanka is about half the size of Alabama. Most of the land is flat and rolling; mountains in the south-central region rise to over 8,000 ft (2,438 m).
| Current government officials
Languages: Sinhala 74% (official and national), Tamil 18% (national), other 8%; English is commonly used in government and spoken competently by about 10%
Ethnicity/race: Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001)
Religions: Buddhist 70%, Islam 8%, Hindu 7%, Christian 6% (2001)
| Literacy rate: 92% (2003 est.)
| Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $81.29 billion; per capita $4,100. Real growth rate: 6.3%. Inflation: 19.7%. Unemployment: 5.7%. Arable land: 14%. Agriculture: rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish. Labor force: 8.08 million; services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.). Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining. Natural resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower. Exports: $6.442 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish. Imports: $8.37 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment. Major trading partners: U.S., UK, India, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Iran, Japan, Malaysia (2004).
| Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 494,509 (1998); mobile cellular: 228,604 (1999). Radio broadcast stations: AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 3.85 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 21 (1997). Televisions: 1.53 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2000). Internet users: 121,500 (2001).
| Transportation: Railways: total: 1,508 km (2002). Highways: total: 96,695 km; paved: 91,860 km; unpaved: 4,835 km (1999). Waterways: 430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft. Ports and harbors: Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee. Airports: 15 (2002).
| International disputes: none.
Source
The World Factbook; Center for International Research, U.S. Bureau of the Census; The Columbia Encyclopedia; The World Book Encyclopedia; Encyclopędia Britannica; U.S. State Dept., and various newspapers.
Population figures are supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau
| EDUCATION AND SRI LANKA | Education in Sri Lanka has a long history dating back to 300 BC. Western education became ingrained into Sri Lankan society with the integration of Sri Lanka in to the British Empire. Education in Sri Lanka falls under the control of both the Central Government and the Provincial Councils, with some responsibilities lying with the Central Government and the Provincial Council having autonomy for others. The Constitution of Sri Lanka provide for education as a fundamental right. Sri Lanka's population has a literacy rate of 92%, higher than that expected for a third world country and it has the highest literacy rate in South Asia and overall, one of the highest literacy rates in Asia.
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Total:
| 97.3 |
Male:
| 95.8 |
Female:
| 93.0 |
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Source : Wikipedia
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