Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is an island in the Indian Ocean, lying east of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, from which it is separated by the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka is about the size of Tasmania, with an area of 66,000 square km, including 870 square km of inland waters. The population of Sri Lanka is 20 million, with 2.2 million people living in the capital city of Colombo. Other major cities include Gampaha (2 million people), Kurunegala (1.4 million people) and Kandy (1.2 million people). Sri Lanka's official languages are Sinhala and Tamil, although English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10 per cent of the Sri Lankan population. The major religions in Sri Lanka are Buddhism (69 per cent), Hinduism (15 per cent), Christianity (8 per cent) and Islam (7 per cent). The currency is the Sri Lankan Rupee.
