Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 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
Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)
Exports
textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses, fish
External Debt
$22,820,000,000 $
$5,768,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) per US dollar - 108.33 (2008), 110.78 (2007), 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004)
Mauritian rupees (MUR) per US dollar - 27.973 (2008 est.), 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.900%
0.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
1
Location
Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Area
65,610 km sq
2,040 km sq
Coastline
1,340 km
177 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
