Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | |||||||||
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| 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
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[5] | |||||||||
| Jayantha Jayasuriya | |||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | ||||||||
| Formation | |||||||||
| 543 BCE | |||||||||
• Became British colony | 1796 | ||||||||
• Independence and 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 | |||||||||
• 2020 estimate |  21,919,000[7] (57th) | ||||||||
• 2012 census | 20,277,597[8] | ||||||||
• Density | 327/km2 (846.9/sq mi) (43rd) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2021 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $306.997 billion[9] (56th) | ||||||||
• Per capita |  $13,909[9] (88th) | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $84.532 billion[9] (64th) | ||||||||
• Per capita | $3,830[9] (113th) | ||||||||
| Gini (2016) | 39.8[10] medium | ||||||||
| HDI (2019) | 0.782[11] high · 72nd | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It is situated on the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; while being 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 financial centre.