Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island located
29 km off the southeastern coast of India. The country is
strategically placed at the crossroads to the east and west.
Colombo is the country's commercial capital while Sri Jayawardenepura
Kotte is its administrative capital.
She boasts a history of 2500 years, which began when the
first Sinhalese arrived from Northern India. The island was
ruled by numerous Sinhalese and Tamil kings throughout its
history. The country was colonised for a period of 400 years,
first by the Portuguese and then by the Dutch and the British.
Sri Lanka obtained its independence from the British in 1948.
The newly independent country adopted a British Westminster
style Parliamentary system of governance with a Prime Minister
as the Head of State. In 1978, Sri Lanka shifted to the French
Parliamentary model with an Executive Presidential system.
Sri Lanka liberalized its economy in the late 1970s ahead
of the other development countries in the sub continent. It
is today South Asia's most open economy and has a relatively
well developed capital market and infrastructure especially
in the sea-borne trade. For the last two decades successive
Governments have worked towards liberalising and promoting
free enterprise with emphasis on Private Sector investment.
However, key public institutions still play a major roll in
the trade activities of Sri Lanka.
The population of Sri Lanka remains the smallest in South
Asia (Excluding Maldives) which amounts to nearly 19.5 million
people. Its per capita income of US$ 841 remains the second
highest in the region. For the last 20 years the country has
maintained an average annual G.D.P. growth of 4.8% while some
years the growth has exceeded 8% and the lowest of near 1%
also has been recorded.
