Long-form name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Type: republic

Capital: Colombo

Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Amparai, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla, Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala, Mullaittivu, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Vavuniya; note--the administrative structure may now include 8 provinces (Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, and Western) and 25 districts (with Kilinochchi added to the existing districts)

Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK; formerly Ceylon)

Constitution: 31 August 1978

Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since 6 March 1989)

Political parties and leaders: United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe PREMADASA; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF; All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar PONNAMBALAM; People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh GUNAWARDENE; Eelam Democratic Front (EDF), Edward Sebastian PILLAI; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader (vacant); Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), Velupillai BALAKUMARAN; New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja Party), Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA; Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or Lanka Sama Samaja Party), Colin R. de SILVA; Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka Mahajana Party), Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARANATUNGA; Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; note--the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held December 1994); results--Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%; Parliament--last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by February 1995); results--UNP 51%, SLFP 32%, SLMC 4%, TULF 3%, USA 3%, EROS 3%, MEP 1%, other 3%; seats--(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, other 33

Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People's Liberation Front); Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions

Member of: AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. Susanta De ALWIS; Chancery at 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4025 through 4028; there is a Sri Lankan Consulate in New York; US--Ambassador Marion V. CREEKMORE, Jr.; Embassy at 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 (mailing address is P. O. Box 106, Colombo); telephone [94] (1) 448007

Flag: yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag and extends between the two panels

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.