Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30%
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, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)
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
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia
Area
65,610 km sq
71,740 km sq
Coastline
1,340 km
402 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)
