Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Prajathanthrika Samajavadi Janarajaya
CAPITAL: Colombo
FLAG: The national flag contains, at the hoist, vertical stripes of green and saffron (orange-yellow) and, to the right, a maroon rectangle with yellow bo leaves in the corners and a yellow lion symbol in the center. The entire flag is bordered in yellow, and a narrow yellow vertical area separates the saffron stripe from the dark maroon rectangle.
ANTHEM: Sri Lanka Matha (Mother Sri Lanka).
MONETARY UNIT: The Sri Lanka rupee (R) of 100 cents is a paper currency with one official rate. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents and 1 and 2 rupees, and notes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 rupees. R1 = $0.0103 (or $1 = R96.34; as of April 2003).
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the national standard, but British weights and measures and some local units also are used.
HOLIDAYS: Independence Commemoration Day, 4 February; May Day, 1 May; National Heroes Day, 22 May; Bank Holiday, 30 June; Christmas Day, 25 December; Bank Holiday, 31 December. Movable holidays include Maha Sivarathri Day, Milad-an-Nabi, Good Friday, 'Id al-Fitr, Dewali, and 'Id al'Adha'; in addition, the day of the rise of the full moon of every month of the Buddhist calendar, called a Poya day, is a public holiday.
TIME: 5:30 PM = noon GMT.
Fishing produces less than the country's needs and yields a meager income to fishermen, most of whom use primitive boats and gear in the shallow waters surrounding the island. In 2000, the total fish catch was estimated at 300,316 tons, up from 165,397 tons in 1990. Exports of fish products were valued at nearly $134.5 million in 2000.
About 30% of the total land area consists of forests. In 2000, 6,543,000 cu m (231 million cu ft) of roundwood were cut. Forestry products included 5,000 cu m (176,500 cu ft) of sawn timber and 5,907,000 cu m (208.5 million cu ft) of firewood for domestic use.
Sri Lanka has no territories or colonies.