King: Albert II Prime Minister-designate: Elio di Rupo
President: Mahinda Rajapaksa
Population
10,438,353
21,481,334
Life Expectancy
79.650 years
75.940 years
Capital City
Brussels
Colombo
Largest city
Brussels (population: 1,019,020)
Colombo (population: 648,034)
Human Development Index
0.948
0.742
GDP per capita
$38,200 US
$5,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
90.7%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
3.2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
36.2%
5.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
Albert Frere ($2.4bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
7.700%
4.200%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
republic
Independence date
4 October 1830 (a provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King LEOPOLD I ascended to the throne)
4 February 1948 (from UK)
Religions
Roman Catholic 75%, other (includes Protestant) 25%
Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Languages
Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
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
Exports
machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs
textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
External Debt
$1,399,000,000,000 $
$22,810,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6802 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) per US dollar - 108.33 (2008), 110.78 (2007), 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.300%
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
2
0
Location
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
