Today we will be focusing on Sri Lanka.

Facts about Sri Lanka:

- Full name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Population: 21.2 million (UN, 2012)
- Capital: Colombo (commercial), Sri Jayawardenepura-Kotte (administrative)
- Largest city: Colombo
- Area: 65,610 sq km (25,332 sq miles)
- Major languages: Sinhala, Tamil, English
- Major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
- Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 78 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: Sri Lankan rupee
- Main exports: Clothing and textiles, tea, gems, rubber, coconuts

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest.

Sri Lanka has a documented history that spans over 3,000 years, but there are facts to suggest that Sri Lanka had pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years.^[8] Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road^[9] through to World War II.^[10] Sri Lanka is a diverse country, home to many religions, ethnicities and languages.^[11] It is the land of the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils, Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda.^[12] Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE.^[13]^[14] The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military crushed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.^[15]

Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a presidential system. The capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the largest city, Colombo. An important producer of tea, coffee, gemstones,coconuts,

rubber, and the native cinnamon,^[16] Sri Lanka is known as "the Pearl of the Indian Ocean" because of its natural beauty, its shape and location, and "the nation of smiling people".^[17] The island containstropical forests and diverse landscapes with a high amount of biodiversity.

The country has had a long history of international engagement, as a founding member of SAARC, a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement. It is also the only country in South Asia that is currently rated 'high' on the Human Development Index.

For more information on Sri Lanka, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka and http://www.adrasrilanka.org/sri-lanka-at-a-glance/

Tamil Tea-pickers

ADRA in Sri Lanka:

ADRA has been working in Sri Lanka since the early 1980’s with its first project in 1983 in the Central Province.

On March 1993, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and ADRA was signed.

On May 3, 1994, ADRA Sri Lanka was registered as an NGO under the Monitoring of Receipts and Disbursements of Funds Act.

On June 20, 2002, ADRA Sri Lanka was registered under the Ministry of Social Services.

Adhering to new regulations ADRA Sri Lanka was re-registered as a local NGO under the NGO Secretariat in 2007 and acquired the registration number FL 50414.

To date, ADRA Sri Lanka has worked in various projects in the districts of Ampara, Batticaloa, Colombo, Gampaha, Hambanthota, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Trincomalee, and Vavuniya.

ADRA Projects:

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Technical expertise:

Deep bore well drilling and Gravity-fed water system.

They also construct or rehabilitate dug wells, latrines, water systems for human consumption or farming, and Tsunami warning towers, and provide European quality insecticide incorporated mosquito nets for Dengue prevention.