Country name:
conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form:
Sri Lanka
local long form:
Shri Lanka Prajatantrika Samajavadi Janarajaya/Ilankai Jananayaka Choshalichak Kutiyarachu
local short form:
Shri Lanka/Ilankai
former:
Serendib, Ceylon
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Colombo
geographic coordinates:
6 55 N, 79 50 E
time difference:
UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note:
Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative capital)
Administrative divisions:
9 provinces; Central, Eastern, North Central, Northern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western
Independence:
4 February 1948 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Constitution:
several previous; latest adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978; amended many times, last in 2010 (2010)
Legal system:
mixed legal system of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and Jaffna Tamil customary law
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA (since 19 November 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; Dissanayake Mudiyanselage JAYARATNE holds the largely ceremonial title of prime minister (since 21 April 2010)
head of government:
President Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA (since 19 November 2005)
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a six-year term, eligible for a second term; election last held on 26 January 2010 (next to be held in 2016)
election results:
Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA 57.88%, Sarath FONSEKA 40.15%, other 1.97%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of an open-list, proportional representation system by electoral district to serve six-year terms)
elections:
last held on 8 April 2010 with a repoll in two electorates held on 20 April 2010 (next to be held by April 2016)
election results:
percent of vote by alliance or party - United People's Freedom Alliance 60.93%, United National Party 29.34%, Democratic National Alliance 5.49%, Tamil National Alliance 2.9%, other 1.34%; seats by alliance or party - United People's Freedom Alliance 144, United National Party 60, Tamil National Alliance 14, Democratic National Alliance 7
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Republic (consists of the chief justice and 10 justices); note - the court has exclusive jurisdiction to review legislation
judge selection and term of office:
the chief justice appointed by the president; the other justices appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice; all justices hold office until age 65
subordinate courts:
Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate's Courts; municipal and primary courts
Political parties and leaders:
Coalitions and leaders: Democratic National Alliance, led by General (Retired) Sarath FONSEKA
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Buddhist clergy
International organization participation:
ABEDA, ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CD, CP, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Jaliya Chitran WICKRAMASURIYA (since 18 July 2008)
chancery:
2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 483-4025 through 4028
FAX:
[1] (202) 232-7181
consulate(s) general:
Los Angeles
consulate(s):
New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Michele J. SISON (since 29 September 2012); note - also accredited to Maldives
embassy:
210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
mailing address:
P. O. Box 106, Colombo
telephone:
[94] (11) 249-8500
FAX:
[94] (11) 243-7345
Flag description:
yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other larger panel depicts a yellow lion holding a sword on a dark red rectangular field that also displays a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border around the entire flag and extends between the two panels; the lion represents Sinhalese ethnicity, the strength of the nation, and bravery; the sword demonstrates the sovereignty of the nation; the four bo leaves - symbolizing Buddhism and its influence on the country - stand for the four virtues of kindness, friendliness, happiness, and equanimity; orange signifies Sri Lankan Tamils, green the Sri Lankan Moors; dark red represents the European Burghers, but also refers to the rich colonial background of the country; yellow denotes other ethnic groups; also referred to as the Lion Flag
National symbol(s):
lion
National anthem:
name: "Sri Lanka Matha" (Mother Sri Lanka)
lyrics/music: Ananda SAMARKONE
note: adopted 1951
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14