Sri Lanka Location : Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Capital City : Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Curreny : Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Languages Spoken : Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Climate : tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
National Holiday : Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Background Information
Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1802. As Ceylon it became independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester.
Geographical Note
strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
Economy
In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%. But 2001 saw the first contraction in the country's history, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife.
Religions
Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
Ports : Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
International Disputes - Risks to travellers
: none
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