Sri Lanka Government

What is the capital of Sri Lanka?

Country Name	Sri Lanka
Full Country Name	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Local - Long	Shri Lanka Prajatantrika Samajavadi Janarajaya/Ilankai Jananayaka Choshalichak Kutiyarachu
Local - Short	Shri Lanka/Ilankai
Former Name	Serendib, Ceylon
Etymology- history of name	the name means "resplendent island" in Sanskrit
Government Type	presidential republic
Capital Name	Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Capital - geographic coordinate	6 55 N, 79 50 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence	4 February 1948 (from the UK)
National Holiday	Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Constitution	several previous; latest adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978; amended many times, last in 2015

Sri Lanka Capital City Map

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Sri Lanka Government and Politics

Who is the president of Sri Lanka?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: President Gotabaya RAJAPAKSA (since 18 November 2019); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Prime Minister Mahinda RAJAPAKSA (since 21 November 2019) head of government: Gotabaya RAJAPAKSA (elected 16 November, sworn in 18 November 2019) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister elections/appointments: president directly elected by preferential majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 16 November 2019 (next to be held in 2024); prime minister appointed by the president from among members of Parliament for a 5-year term) election results: Gotabaya RAJAPAKSA elected president; percent of vote - Gotabaya RAJAPAKSA (SLPP) 52.2%, Sajith PREMADASA (UNP) 42%, other 5.8%
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Sri Lanka dual citizenship recognized: no, except in cases where the government rules it is to the benefit of Sri Lanka residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Legal System:	mixed legal system of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and Jaffna Tamil customary law
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	description: unicameral Parliament (225 seats; 196 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote using a preferential method in which voters select 3 candidates in order of preference; remaining 29 seats allocated to other political parties and groups in proportion to share of national vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: last held on 17 August 2015 (next to be held by August 2020) election results: percent of vote by coalition/party - UNFGG 45.7%, UPFA 42.4%, JVP 4.9%, TNA 4.6%, SLMC 0.4%, EPDP 0.3% other 1.7%; seats by coalition/party UNFGG 106, UPFA 95, TNA 16, JVP 6, SLMC 1, EPDP 1; composition - men 214, women 11, percent of women 4.9%
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Republic (consists of the chief justice and 10 justices); note - the court has exclusive jurisdiction to review legislation judge selection and term of office: chief justice appointed by the president; other justices appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice; all justices hold office until age 65 subordinate courts: Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate's Courts; municipal and primary courts
Regions or States:	9 provinces; Central, Eastern, North Central, Northern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western
Political Parties and Leaders:	Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA] Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP [Anura Kumara DISSANAYAKE] Jathika Hela Urumaya or JHU [Patali Champika RANAWAKA] Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Maithripala SIRISENA] Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM] Tamil National Alliance or TNA [R. SAMPANTHAN] United National Front for Good Governance or EYJP (coalition includes UNP) United National Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMESINGHE] United People's Freedom Alliance or UPFA (coalition includes SLFP)
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
International Organization Participation:	ABEDA, ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CD, CICA (observer), CP, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Prasad KARIYAWASAM (since 14 July 2014) chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 through 4028 FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Atul KESHAP (since 21 August 2015); note - also accredited to Maldives embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (11) 249-8500 FAX: [94] (11) 243-7345

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