Sri Lanka Facts and Figures. 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 Population growth Population growth rate 21,128,773 (2008 estimate) 0.94 percent (2008 estimate) Projected population in 2025 23,707,228 (2025 estimate) Projected population in 2050 24,920,558 (2050 estimate) Population density 326 persons per sq km (2008 estimate) 845 persons per sq mi (2008 estimate) Urban/rural distribution Share urban 21 percent (2005 estimate) Share rural 79 percent (2005 estimate) Largest cities, with population Colombo 642,163 (2001) Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 209,787 (2001) Jaffna 145,600 (1997 estimate) Sri Jayawardenepura 117,000 (2003 estimate) Kandy 110,049 (2001) 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 Female Male Infant mortality rate Population per physician Population per hospital bed 75 years (2008 estimate) 77.1 years (2008 estimate) 73 years (2008 estimate) 19 deaths per 1,000 live births (2008 estimate) 1,834 people (2004) 323 people (2002) Literacy rate Total 92.8 percent (2005 estimate) Female 90.6 percent (2005 estimate) Male Education expenditure as a share of gross national product (GNP) Number of years of compulsory schooling Number of students per teacher, primary school 95 percent (2005 estimate) 1.3 percent (2001-2002) 9 years (2002-2003) 23 students per teacher (2002-2003) GOVERNMENT Form of government Republic Voting qualifications Universal at age 18 Constitution Armed forces Total number of military personnel Military expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) 7 September 1978 111,000 (2004) 2.8 percent (2003) ECONOMY Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) $27 billion (2006) GDP per capita (U.S.$) $1,355.90 (2006) GDP by economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 16.5 percent (2006) I ndustry 27.1 percent (2006) Services 56.5 percent (2006) Employment Number of workers 8,371,170 (2006) Workforce share of economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 34 percent (2003) I ndustry 23 percent (2003) Services Unemployment rate 39 percent (2003) 8.5 percent (2004) National budget (U.S.$) Total revenue $4,589 million (2006) Total expenditure $5,981 million (2006) Monetary unit 1 Sri Lanka rupee (SLRe), consisting of 100 cents Major trade partners for exports United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and United Arab Emirates Major trade partners for imports India, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea ENERGY, COMMUNICATIONS, AND TRANSPORTATION Electricity production Electricity from thermal sources 59.72 percent (2003 estimate) Electricity from hydroelectric sources 40.23 percent (2003 estimate) Electricity from nuclear sources Electricity from geothermal, solar, and wind sources Number of radios per 1,000 people 0 percent (2003 estimate) 0.05 percent (2003 estimate) 211 (1997) Number of telephones per 1,000 people 63 (2005) Number of televisions per 1,000 people 108 (2000 estimate) Number of Internet hosts per 10,000 people 0.98 (2003) Daily newspaper circulation per 1,000 people 29 (1996) Number of motor vehicles per 1,000 people 34 (2002) Paved road as a share of total roads 81 percent (2003) SOURCES Basic Facts and People sections Area data are from the statistical bureaus of individual countries. Population, population growth rate, and population projections are from the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center, International Data Base (IDB) (www.census.gov). Urban and rural population data are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), FAOSTAT database (www.fao.org). Largest cities population data and political divisions data are from the statistical bureaus of individual countries. Ethnic divisions and religion data are largely from the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook and from various country censuses and reports. Language data are largely from the Ethnologue, Languages of the World, Summer Institute of Linguistics International (www.sil.org). Health and Education section Life expectancy and infant mortality data are from the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center, International database (IDB) (www.census.gov). Population per physician and population per hospital bed data are from the World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int). Education data are from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). Government section Government, independence, legislature, constitution, highest court, and voting qualifications data are largely from various government Web sites, the latest Europa World Yearbook, and the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook. The armed forces data is from Military Balance. Economy section Gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, GDP by economic sectors, employment, and national budget data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org). Monetary unit, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, exports, imports, and major trade partner information is from the statistical bureaus of individual countries, latest Europa World Yearbook, and various United Nations and International Monetary Fund (IMF) publications. Energy, Communication, and Transportation section Electricity information is from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) database (www.eia.doe.gov). Radio, telephone, television, and newspaper information is from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). Internet hosts, motor vehicles, and road data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org). Note Figures may not total 100 percent due to rounding. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
