Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Capital | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative)[1] Colombo (executive and judicial)[2] 6°56′N 79°52′E / 6.933°N 79.867°E |
| Largest city | Colombo |
| Official languages | Sinhala Tamil[3] |
| Recognised languages | English |
| Ethnic groups (2012[4]) | 74.9% Sinhalese 11.2% Sri Lankan Tamils 9.2% Sri Lankan Moors 4.2% Indian Tamils 0.5% Others (incl. Burghers, Malays, Veddas, Chinese, Indians) |
| Religion (2012) | 70.2% Buddhism (official religion)[5][6] 12.6% Hinduism 9.7% Islam 7.4% Christianity 0.1% Other/None |
| Demonym(s) | Sri Lankan |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic |
| Gotabaya Rajapaksa | |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | |
| Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena[7] | |
| Jayantha Jayasuriya | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Independence from the United Kingdom | |
• Dominion | 4 February 1948 |
• Republic | 22 May 1972 |
| 7 September 1978 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 65,610 km2 (25,330 sq mi) (120th) |
• Water (%) | 4.4 |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate |  21,803,000[8] (58th) |
• 2012 census | 20,277,597[9] |
• Density | 327/km2 (846.9/sq mi) (43rd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $321.856 billion[10] (58th) |
• Per capita | $14,509[10] (91st) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $92.111 billion[10] (65th) |
• Per capita | $4,152[10] (109th) |
| Gini (2016) | 39.8[11] medium |
| HDI (2018) | 0.780[12] high · 71st |
| Currency | Sri Lankan rupee (Rs) (LKR) |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (SLST) |
| Date format |
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| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +94 |
| ISO 3166 code | LK |
| Internet TLD | |
Website www | |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean southwest of the Bay of Bengal and southeast of the Arabian Sea. Sri Lanka has been called “the pearl of the Indian ocean” because of its shape and location. It is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and centre of commerce.