Srilankan-holidays

Official name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Location: Latitude 5° 55. to 9° 50. north, longitude 79° 42. to 81° 52., 650km to equator
Dimensions: 430km north to south, 225km east to west
Coastline: 1,340km
Area: 65,525km
Currency (code): Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Independence: 4 February 1948
Administrative capital: Sri Jayewardenepura
Commercial capital: Colombo
Climate: Typically tropical, with a northeast monsoon (December to March) bringing unsettled weather to the north and east, and a southwest monsoon (June to October) bringing bad weather to the south and west
Population: 21,128,773 (? Census)
Population growth rate: 1.3%
Population Density: 309 people per sq km
Life Expectancy at Birth: 74 female, 64 male
Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census)
Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
Note: English (a link language commonly) is used in government and spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Religion: Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census)
Time zone: Sri Lanka Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. (Allowance should be made for summer-time changes in Europe.)
International dialing: +94
Electricity: 230 . 240 volts, 50 cycles AC. If you travel with a laptop computer bring a stabilizer
Highest mountain: Pidurutalagala, 2,524m
Highest waterfall: Bambarakanda, 263m