NATIONAL STATS

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Overview
Serendib, Teprobane, Ceylon, Lanka, Sri Lanka,
The Name conjures up images of a land rich in heritage, and culture.
Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean 50km (31 miles) off the southern tip of India

Climate
No marked seasons. A special feature is that th hot and humid lowlands and the s alubrious hill country are separated by a few hours motoring. Average mean tempe rature along the coast is 26.7 C (80 F) and 19.7 C (66.50 F) in the hill country . In Colombo, the commercial capital, situated on the west coast, the temperatur e varies from 26.4 C (79.5 F) to 27.8 C (82.12 F). Relative Humidity varies from 70% during the day to 90% at night.

Brief History
The student of Ceylon's history has a rich variety of sources to draw from literary, epigraphical and archaeological. By far the most important is the dynastic and religious chronicle, the Mahavansa together with its commentary, Vasatthappakasini, and its continuation, the Culavamsa. There three chronicles record a continuos story beginning with the Indo-Aryan settlements of the island in the 6th century BC uoto the beginning of modern times, a time span of 22 centuries. An earlier chronicle is the Depavansa and possibly the Sihalavatthu, a recent discovery. The information contained in there chronicles can be checked by epigraphical sources. Up to date over 2,5000 rock inscriptions have been discovered, over 1,000 of them belonging to the 3rd, 2nd and 1st century BC. Archaeological evidence is concentrated in the ancient capitals of Anuradhapura, neighbouring Mihintale, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. All in the north-central dry zone which cradled the early civilization of the country.

The recorded history of Ceylon begins with the legendary story of the landing of Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers from a kindom in north-western India in the 6th century BC. The Sinhala people who today comprise 71 precent of the population are descendants of this Indian settlement. Historians surmise that the truth behind the legend is that Aryan settements in Ceylon were established at that time by enterprising groups of merchants and traders. It is generally accepted that prior to thee settlements there were no people in the country with an advanced civilization. But some archeologist and historians think otherwise. It is however cetin that there were group of people who may be describe as aborigines. They were hunting tribes and used simple implement of quartz, wood and animal bones. The veddas of today are supposed to be descendants of these tribes.

During the 5th and 4th centuries BC Ceylon was extencively colonized by these Indo Aryans. The Cgronology of Ceylon's history can be established firmly with the reign of King Devanampiyatissa (250-210 BC) who was a contemporary of Emperor Asoka of India. One preceding king deseves mention here King Pandukhabaya who founded the city of Anuradhapura which was to be the royal capital for over a millennium.

National Anthem

National Flag

National Flower

State Emblem

National Tree

Form of government
Sri Lanka has a Democratic Government, with an executive President and a Parliament elected by the people.

Population (millions)
17.619(mid-1993)

Populatin density (people/1 square km)
270

Literacy rate
Male:90.5%
Female:82.4%

Ethnicty
Sinhala(74%), Tamil(18%), Moors(7%), Others(1%)

Offical languages
Sinhala and Tamil

Religions
Buddhism(69%), Hinduism(15%), Christianity(8%), Islam(7%)

Capital
Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte

Colombo Exchange rates(at 3/6/'95)
Currency per Unit                       S.L.Rs.
                                Buying          Selling
1       US Dollars              50.17           50.39
1       Sterling Pounds         78.96           79.76
1       Deutsche Mark           35.73           36.28
1       French Francs           10.13           10.37
100     Japanese Yen            58.44           59.36


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