Polity · 1948 CE – present
Sri Lanka
ශ්රී ලංකාව · ශ්රී ලංකා ප්රජාතාන්ත්රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය · இலங்கை சனநாயக சோசலிசக் குடியரசு
Also recorded as Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Peak recorded area
- 73,532 km²
- 1948 CE
- Rulers on record
- 7
- from 2005 CE
- Data series
- 430
- 1948 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
2 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 64 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population298 obs · 1820 CE–2025 CE | 23.2Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 77.85years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | -30.7Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 0.523% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 80.9years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 74.65years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 161 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 12.8Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita155 obs · 1820 CE–2022 CE | 10.7K2011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP Current Usd111 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 108.8Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Total Exports67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | 10.9Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | 20.5Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance67 obs · 1948 CE–2014 CE | -9,614.55million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 51 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Expenditure % GDP137 obs · 1951 CE–2024 CE | 1.43% of GDP2024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Military Expenditure Constant Usd73 obs · 1951 CE–2024 CE | 1,075.8millions_usd_20232024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| CINC Score69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 0.0022CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 11.6Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 30Ktons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure69 obs · 1948 CE–2016 CE | 2Bcurrent USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 63 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 22.18% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 34% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 48.61%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.0623hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 3Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 1.4Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 30 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.664index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.486index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.431index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.7index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity265 obs · 1948 CE–2012 CE | 4index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 61 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Tech Railway Line Km128 obs · 1871 CE–1998 CE | 1,500km1998 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Freedom Of Expression Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.857index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Mail Items93 obs · 1900 CE–1993 CE | 477items1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph83 obs · 1900 CE–1982 CE | 6.63count1982 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Electricity Production67 obs · 1935 CE–2001 CE | 6.6BGWh2001 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telephones65 obs · 1922 CE–1988 CE | 185Kcount1988 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
7 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Mahinda RajapaksaHead of State2005 CE – 2015 CE
- Maithripala SirisenaHead of State2015 CE – 2019 CE
- Dinesh GunawardenaHead of Government2022 CE – 2024 CE
- Ranil WickremesingheHead of State2022 CE – 2024 CE
- Ranil WickremesingheHead of Government2022 CE
- Anura Kumara DissanayakeHead of State2024 CE –
- Harini AmarasuriyaHead of Government2024 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
- Government type
- presidential republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Anura Kumara DISSANAYAKE (since 23 September 2024); head of government: President Anura Kumara DISSANAYAKE (since 23 September 2024); cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister;
- Ethnic groups
- Sinhalese 74.9%, Sri Lankan Tamil 11.2%, Sri Lankan Moors 9.2%, Indian Tamil 4.2%, other 0.5% (2012 est.)
- Natural resources
- limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower, arable land
- Economy
- economic contraction in 2022-23 marked by increased poverty and significant inflation; IMF two-year debt relief program following 2022 sovereign default; structural challenges from non-diversified economy and rigid labor laws; heavy dependence on tourism receipts and remittances
Language & currency
- Currency
- Sri Lankan rupees (LKR)
Memberships
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1955 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Sri Lanka is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.