Country Facts

An island off the south-eastern cost shores of India, 880 km north of the equator, in the Indian Ocean

Official Name

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Capital

Sri Jayawardanapura

Commercial City

Colombo

Government Type

Presidential Republic

The total land area

62,710 Km2 (24,212 sq. miles)

Coastline

1,340 km (833 mi)

Climate of Sri Lanka

tropical monsoon;
northeast monsoon (December to March);
southwest monsoon (June to October)

Population of Sri Lanka

21,406,209 (2020)

The population density in Sri Lanka

348 persons per sq.km

Population in urban

18.4% (3,945,488 people in urban) (2020)

Life Expectancy at Birth

77.5 years (Total)
Male – 74 years
Female – 81.1 years

The median age in Sri Lanka

34.0 years

Literacy rate

Average : 92.5%
Male : 93.4%
Female : 91.6%

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 87%,
Tamil (official and national language) 28.5%,
English 23.8%

Ethnic mix

Sinhalese 74.9%,
Sri Lankan Tamil 11.2%,
Sri Lankan Moors 9.2%,
Indian Tamil 4.2%,
Other 0.5%

Religion

Buddhist (official) 70.2%,
Hindu 12.6%,
Muslim 9.7%,
Roman Catholic 6.1%,
Other Christian 1.3%,
Other 0.05%

National Flag

National Flag of Sri Lanka is the Lion Flag. A Lion bearing a sword in its right hand is depicted in gold on red background with a yellow border. Four Bo leaves pointing inwards are at the four corners. Two vertical bands of green and orange at the mast end represent the minority ethnic groups. It is an adaptation of the standard of the last King of Sri Lanka.

National Anthem

"Sri Lanka Matha" composed by late Mr. Ananda Samarakoon. Click on the Speaker Icon to listen to the Anthem

National Flower

The Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellata)

National Sport

Volleyball

National Tree

The Na tree (Mesua ferrea)

National Bird

The Wali Kukula (Gallus Lasseyapti)

Annual per capita GNP

$3,947 (2019)

Industries

Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; tourism, shipping; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining, information technology services, construction

Agriculture Products

rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, vegetables, fruit, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish

Currency

The Sri Lanka Rupee ( The Rupee is sub-divided into 100 cents)

Visa

www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/

Working week

Sri Lanka works a five-day week, from Monday to Friday

Working hours

Government Offices

8.30 a.m. - 4.15 p.m, Monday to Friday

Banks

9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. or 3.00 p.m. Monday to Saturday

Post Office

8.30 a.m. - 5.00 p.m., Monday to Friday

8.30 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. on Saturday

Central Mail Exchange, at D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10, (Telephone: +94-11-2320700)

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