U.S. English Foundation Research SRI LANKA General Information   Capital: Colombo 616,000 (1990 est.) Area: 65,610 sq km (25,332 sq mi) Form of government Republic GDP per capita Purchasing power parity-$2,600 (1999 est.) Population 19,238,575 (July 2000 est.) Ethnic composition Sinhalese - 74% Tamil - 18% Moor - 7% Burgher, Malay, Vedda - 1% Official Language(s) Sinhala is the official language, but Tamil has shared an equal status with Sinhala as an official language since July 29, 1987. Minority Language(s) English is commonly used in government and it is spoken by about 10% of the population. Top of page

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