transitional government note: following a successful referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea on 23-25 April 1993, a National Assembly, composed entirely of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, was established as a transitional legislature; a Constitutional Commission was also established to draft a constitution; ISAIAS Afworki was elected president by the transitional legislature; the constitution, ratified in May 1997, did not enter into effect, pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections were scheduled in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely; currently the sole legal party is the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ)
Independence date
4 February 1948 (from UK)
Religions
Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
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
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Exports
textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
External Debt
$22,810,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
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
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Area
65,610 km sq
117,600 km sq
Coastline
1,340 km
2,234 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands
