SRILANKA

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Prajathanthrika Samajavadi Janarajaya CAPITAL: Colombo FLAG: The national flag contains, at the hoist, vertical stripes of green and saffron (orange-yellow) and, to the right, a maroon rectangle with yellow bo leaves in the corners and a yellow lion symbol in the center. The entire flag is bordered in yellow, and a narrow yellow vertical area separates the saffron stripe from the dark maroon rectangle. ANTHEM: Sri Lanka Matha (Mother Sri Lanka). MONETARY UNIT: The Sri Lanka rupee (R) of 100 cents is a paper currency with one official rate. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents and 1 and 2 rupees, and notes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 rupees. R1 = $0.0103 (or $1 = R96.34; as of April 2003). WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the national standard, but British weights and measures and some local units also are used. HOLIDAYS: Independence Commemoration Day, 4 February; May Day, 1 May; National Heroes Day, 22 May; Bank Holiday, 30 June; Christmas Day, 25 December; Bank Holiday, 31 December. Movable holidays include Maha Sivarathri Day, Milad-an-Nabi, Good Friday, ‘Id al-Fitr, Dewali, and ‘Id al- ‘Adha’; in addition, the day of the rise of the full moon of every month of the Buddhist calendar, called a Poya day, is a public holiday. TIME: 5:30 PM = noon GMT.