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Name:	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Conventional short form:	Sri Lanka.
Former Names:	Teprobane, Serendib, Ceylon.
Time Difference:	Sri Lanka’s standard time is 6 hours ahead of Greenwich. (GMT +05:30) Colombo.
Legislative Capital:	Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte.
Commercial Capital:	Colombo.
Independence:	4 February 1948 (from UK).
Flag description:	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 around the entire flag and extends between the two panels.
Population:	more than 21,927,255

Map References:	Asia.
Location:	Sri Lanka lies in the Indian Ocean off the southern tip of the coast of India.
Geographic Coordinates:	6-10 degrees North Latitude 80-82 degrees East longitude.
Maximum Length:	432 km.
Maximum Breadth:	224 km.
Land Area:	65,525 Sq. km.
Excluding Inland Waters:	62,336 Sq. km.
Highest Water Fall:	Bambarakanda – 241 meters.
Highest Peak:	Pidurutalagala – 2524 meters.
Longest River:	Mahaweli River – 335 km.