Where is Sri Lanka?
About Sri Lanka
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Sri Lanka is an average size island country in the centre of southern Asia.
Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean.
The land is mainly lowland plains with some mountains in the interior.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Sri Lanka, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 7 00N
Longitude - 81 00E
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Check the weather in Katunayake now. Katunayake is about 30 kms north of Colombo.
This is the time in Colombo now
The Sri Lankan flag is yellow with two unequal
panels. The smaller panel on the flag pole side has two equal vertical stripes of green (flag pole side) and orange. The other larger panel
shows a yellow lion holding a sword on a maroon background. There is a leaf in each corner of that maroon background.
The capital of Sri Lanka is Colombo.
Sri Lanka is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan rupee. Sri Lanka is a member of the Commonwealth.
Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Sri Lanka is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan rupee. Sri Lanka is a member of the Commonwealth.
Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Sri Lanka to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Sri Lanka is 64,630 sq kms which is the 36th largest in Asia.
Sri Lanka has lakes, rivers and canals which total 980 sq kms.
Sri Lanka has no boundaries with other countries.
Sri Lanka has a coastline of 1,340 kms which is the 19th longest in Asia.
The highest point in Sri Lanka is Pidurutalagala at 2,524 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Sri Lanka is 22.24 million people, making it the 24th largest country in Asia by population.
Of this number 11.37 million are females and 10.87 million are males.
A person from Sri Lanka is called a Sri Lankan.
To be a citizen of Sri Lanka, one of your parents must be a citizen of Sri Lanka. It is not sufficient to be born in Sri Lanka. You have to live in Sri Lanka for
7 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Sri Lanka, by population are:-
- Colombo 648,034 people
- Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 219,827
- Galkissa 215,943
- Moratuwa 185,031
- Jaffna 169,102
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
18.4% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
18.4% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Sri Lanka is 15.5 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Sri Lanka is 6.2 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 7.0 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 9.5 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 34.0 and for males is 31.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 25.4.
The elderly dependency ratio is 14.1. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 7.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Sri Lanka spends 3.5% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.68 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 3.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
5.2% of the population are estimated as obese.
98.5% of the urban population and 95.0% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
88.1% of the urban population and 96.7% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Sri Lanka releases 16.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 34th highest in Asia.
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Sri Lanka spends 2.2% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 5 in Sri Lanka. Primary education is for five years until age 10 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the first week of January and finishes at the end of November. There is usually a 2 week
break in April and August.
91.0% of females and 93% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
21.6% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 29.2% are unemployed while with males 17.1% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Sri Lanka is 8.94 million.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 15 paved airports in Sri Lanka, which is the 34th highest number in Asia.
There are 1,447 kilometres of railways in Sri Lanka, the 25th longest in Asia.
There are 16,977 kilometres of roads in Sri Lanka, which means Sri Lanka is in 28th place for the most kilometres of roads in Asia.
There are 8 major national newspapers in Sri Lanka.
There are 25.8 million mobile phone users.
11% of the people have a fixed landline.
7.13 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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