Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General Prime minister: Stephen Harper
Population
21,481,334
34,300,083
Life Expectancy
75.940 years
81.480 years
Capital City
Colombo
Ottawa
Largest city
Colombo (population: 648,034)
Toronto (population: 4,612,190)
Human Development Index
0.742
0.967
GDP per capita
$5,700 US
$41,100 US
Literacy Rate
90.7%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
3.2
8.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
5.8%
24.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
David Thomson & family ($13.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
4.200%
7.500%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Abolished
Political System
republic
constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation
Independence date
4 February 1948 (from UK)
1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK)
Religions
Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)
Languages
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
English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Exports
textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) per US dollar - 108.33 (2008), 110.78 (2007), 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004)
Canadian dollars (CAD) per US dollar - 1.0364 (2008 est.), 1.0724 (2007), 1.1334 (2006), 1.2118 (2005), 1.301 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
1.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
18
Location
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US
Area
65,610 km sq
9,984,670 km sq
Coastline
1,340 km
202,080 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
