SRI LANKA - FACTS AND FIGURES

Area: 65,610 km2

Population: 17,865,000 (est 1994)

Capital: Colombo

System of Government: Socialist Republic

Head of State: President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

Prime Minister: Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike

Key Government Ministers: Lakshman Kadiragamar, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Richard Pathirana, Minister of Education; Kingley Wickramaratna, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food.

Language: Sinhala and Tamil

Literacy Rate: (1995 UNESCO estimates) 90.2%

Ethnic Background: 74% Sinhalese, 12.7% Sri Lankan Tamil, 7% Sri Lankan Moors, 5.5% Indian Tamil, 0.8% others.

Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, some Christians

Currency: C$ 1.00 = 42.45 rupees (as of June 2, 1997)

For more information on Sri Lanka, visit these websites:

Canadian High Commission of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Explorer

Interesting details about Sri Lankan Culture

• Their culture is influenced by the British.
• They often smile instead of saying thank you. Women should not smile too much in public because it is considered flirting.
• For Westerners, nodding your head up and down means yes, while shaking it back and forth would mean no. It is the complete opposite in Sri Lanka