| Basic
Facts |
Official
name
Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka |
Capital
Sri Jayawardenepura
(legislative capital)
Colombo (administrative capital) |
| Area |
65,610 sq km |
| |
25,332 sq mi |
| People
|
| Population
|
19,576,783
(2002 estimate) |
| Population growth |
| Population
growth rate |
0.85
percent (2002 estimate) |
| Projected
population in 2025 |
22,593,636
(2000 estimate) |
| Projected
population in 2050 |
23,085,782
(2000 estimate) |
| Population density |
298 persons
per sq km (2002 estimate) |
| |
773 persons
per sq mi (2002 estimate) |
| Urban/rural
distribution |
| Share
urban |
24 percent
(2000 estimate) |
| Share
rural |
76 percent
(2000 estimate) |
| Largest cities,
with population |
| Colombo |
800,982
(1997 estimate) |
| Dehiwala-Mount
Lavinia |
220,780
(1997 estimate) |
| Jaffna
|
145,600
(1997 estimate) |
| Sri Jayawardenepura |
134,114
(1997 estimate) |
| Kandy |
150,532
(1997 estimate) |
| Ethnic groups |
| Sinhalese |
74 percent
|
| Tamil
|
18 percent
|
| Moor(Arab) |
7 percent
|
| Burgher(Dutch),Malay,Vedda |
1 percent
|
| Languages |
| Sinhala
(official) |
74 percent
|
| Tamil |
18 percent
|
| Note:
English is widely used as a second language. |
| Religious
affiliations |
| Buddhist |
69 percent
|
| Hindu |
15 percent
|
| Christian |
8 percent
|
| Muslim |
8 percent
|
| Health
and Education |
| Life expectancy |
|
| Total |
72.3
years (2002 estimate) |
| Female |
75 years
(2002 estimate) |
| Male |
69.8
years (2002 estimate) |
| Infant
mortality rate |
16 deaths
per 1,000 live births (2002 estimate) |
| Population
per physician |
2,740
people (1999) |
| Population
per hospital bed |
365 people
(1990) |
| Literacy
rate |
| Total |
96.9
percent (2001 estimate) |
| Female |
96.8
percent (2001 estimate) |
| Male |
97.1
percent (2001 estimate) |
| Education expenditure as a share
of gross national product (GNP) |
3.1 percent
(1998) |
| Number of years of compulsory schooling |
9 years
(1998) |
| Number of students per teacher,primary
school |
28 students
per teacher (1997) |
| Government |
| Form of government |
Republic
|
| Voting qualifications |
Universal
at age 18 |
| Constitution |
7 September
1978 |
| Armed forces |
| Total
number of military personnel |
123,000
(2001) |
| Military
expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) |
5.3 percent
(2000) |
| Economy |
| Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) |
$16.3
billion (2000) |
| GDP per capita (U.S.$) |
$840
(2000) |
| GDP by economic sector
|
| Agriculture,
forestry, fishing |
19.5
percent (2000) |
| Industry |
27.5
percent (2000) |
| Services |
53 percent
(2000) |
| Employment |
| Number
of workers |
8,494,729
(2000) |
| Workforce share of economic
sector |
| Agriculture,
forestry, fishing |
42 percent
(1998) |
| Industry |
23 percent
(1998) |
| Services |
33 percent
(1998) |
| Unemployment
rate |
7.7 percent
(2000) |
| National budget (U.S.$)
|
| Total
revenue |
$2,773
million (1999) |
| Total
expenditure |
$3,789
million (1999) |
| Monetary unit |
| 1
Sri Lanka rupee (SLRe), consisting of 100 cents |
| Major trade partners
for exports |
| United
States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Belgium |
| Major trade partners
for imports |
| India,
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong S.A.R., Taiwan |
| Energy,
Communications, and Transportation |
| Electricity production
|
| Electricity
from thermal sources |
29.90
percent (1999 estimate) |
| Electricity
from hydroelectric sources |
70.10
percent (1999 estimate) |
| Electricity
from nuclear sources |
0 percent
(1999 estimate) |
| Electricity
from geothermal, solar, and wind sources |
0 percent
(1999 estimate) |
| Number of radios per 1,000 people |
211 (1997)
|
| Number of telephones per 1,000 people |
41 (2000)
|
| Number of televisions per 1,000 people |
84 (1997
estimate) |
| Number of Internet hosts per 10,000
people |
0.91
(2000) |
| Daily newspaper circulation per 1,000
people |
29 (1996)
|
| Number of motor vehicles per 1,000
people |
34 (1998)
|
| Paved road as a share
of total roads |
95 percent
(1999) |
Sri
Lanka Facts and Figures
