COUNTRY FACTS

Population:

19,408,635 (July 2001 est.)

 

Location:

Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India

 

Area:

65,610 sq km

 

Language:

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.  

 

Literacy:

90.2%  (by definition, total population age 15 or older)

 

Compulsory Education:

Education is compulsory to age 14

 

Currency:

Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)

                       

Note:  Since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of mid-1999, approximately 66,000 were housed in 133 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West.

 

Source:  UNESCO IBE Database and World Fact Book, CIA

This country profile was developed by WES with funding from the Government of Ontario.

Revised: 05/06/2004
© 2003 World Education Services.
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