Information about the country

Since 1948, Sri Lanka has been a sovereign, Asian state and with an area of 65,610 sq kilometers a bit smaller than Austria. 20.02 M inhabitants are living on the island in the Pacific Ocean, most of them are Buddhists.
Compared to other countries the population density of 307 inhabitants per sq kilometer is relatively high. A quarter of the population is living below the poverty level, i.e. they have less than USD 1 per day at their disposal.
The literacy rate is at 92.3%, the average age of the population is with 29.8 years very low. That means it is a young population compared to the western industrial nations with a relatively good education level.
For years, Sri Lanka has been suffering from the civil war. Additionally, there was the depredation resulted from the Tsunami in December 2004, where at least 30,000 people died and many lost their homes and their families. The country is still in the process of reconstruction; signs of this natural disaster can be seen at many places all over the island.