The Democratic Socalist Republic of Sri Lanka Formerly Known as Ceylon

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and most commonly referred to as simply Sri Lanka, is a mid-size island nation located in the Indian Ocean. The population of Sri Lanka is approximately 20,100,000 people, which ranks it as the 56^th most populous country in the world, behind another island nation, Madagascar. Sri Lanka is located off the southeastern coast of India and being an island, doesn't share any common borders with any other countries. The island nation spans across 25,332 square miles of land, which places it as the 122^nd largest country in the world by geographic area. Sri Lanka is 270 miles long and 140 miles wide as its widest point. The former capital and largest city in Sri Lanka is Colombo, an economic center with over 650,000 inhabitants. The current capital of Sri Lanka, since 1982, is Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte, a suburb outside of Colombo with roughly 125,000 residents. The other important cities in Sri Lanka are Galle, Jaffna, and Kandy, though none of them are as significant as Colombo and Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte. Sri Lanka is ethnically diverse and is comprised of five main ethnic groups: the Sinhalese, who account for roughly 75 percent of the national population, the Tamils, the Eurasians, the Moors, and the Burghers. The Burgher and Eurasian ethnic groups both have ancestral ties to the European continent, with the Burghers descending from the Dutch and Portuguese, and the Eurasians descending from the British. Since Sinhalese is the most predominant ethnic group in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese language is the official language and is the most widely-spoken. Other languages that are widely-used are English and Tamil.

Sri Lanka, like most southeastern Asia countries, has an economy that is heavily reliant upon the agricultural sector. The chief products that are produced (and many of them exported) are coffee, cinnamon, tea, rubber, coconut, nutmeg, cloves, cocoa, cardamom, tobacco, and citronella. For subsistence farming, fruit, vegetables, and rice are produced to sustain the local population. Sri Lanka also has a flourishing mining industry and is known for its graphite, as well as precious gems, limestone, clay, and iron ore. Since the 1980s, however, the chief contributor to the Sri Lankan economy is the textiles industry. Other industries that are present in Sri Lanka also include banking and financial services. However, the Sri Lankan economy isn't developed enough to support itself, so Sri Lanka is the recipient of large amounts of international aid to support its people. The current GDP per-capita in Sri Lanka is $5,271 per person, which is the 105^th highest in the world.

The national government in Sri Lanka is governed by a written constitution that was drafted in 1978. The national constitution provides for a president to rule the country, and the president is elected by his or her constituents to six-year terms. The government is also comprised of a national legislative assembly that has 225 representatives, who also are elected by the popular vote of the people to serve six-year terms. The current President of Sri Lanka is President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who was first elected in 1994, and was re-elected in 2000.