_____ _____ Sri Lanka

Global Sourcebook for International Data Management

                                         by Graham Rhind

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Sri Lanka

Global Sourcebook | Index | Properties

SRI LANKA
SRI LANKA

For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here External, to postal code pages here External and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here External.

Table of Contents

Sri Lanka - Country information

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Local short name form

Official name

Area

Population

22 156 000 (2021 estimate) [1]

Capital

Currency

International telephone access code

94

ISO 3166 country codes

Car nationality plate code

CL

Internet country code

LK

GRC Country Code

SRI

Sri Lanka - Number format

   Note: This section last updated 15th June 2021
   1,234.45

(where . indicates the decimal separator and , the thousands separator)

Sri Lanka - Date and time formats

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   Note: This section last updated 15th June 2021

In Sinhala:

   yyyy-mm-dd
   14:32

In Tamil:

   dd/mm/yyyy
   14:32

Sri Lanka - Languages

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The official languages are Sinhala External (13 190 000 speakers) and Tamil External (3 000 000 speakers). There are 5 other languages: English External (97 000 speakers); Indo-Portuguese External (2 250 speakers); Pali External; Sri Lankan Creole Malay External (50 000 speakers) and Veddah External (300 speakers).

Sri Lanka - Personal names

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Regardless of the ethnic community, family names are usually written last in a name string. Many people have an ancestral name which is written first but which is usually abbreviated. In the following example, the form is ancestral name + given name + family name:

   Presteruweliyanaralage Evans Corray

Sinhalese clan names end in -ge.

Women usually take their husband’s surname upon marriage but retain their ancestral name. Children typically take their father’s ancestral- and surname.

Tamils traditionally have no family name and the father’s name may be added as an initial before their own personal name.

Sri Lankans often have long strings of given names, often written as initials. For example:

   Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga Welegedara (Chanaka Welegedara, UWMBCA Welegedara)
   Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (Mahela Jayawardene, DPMS Jayawardene)
   Hewasandatchige Asiri Prasanna Wishvanath Jayawardene (Prasanna Jayawardene, HAPW Jayawardene)
   Hettige Don Rumesh Lahiru Thirimanne (Lehiru Thirimanne, HDRL Thirimanne)
   Tables of names can be acquired: given names External, surnames/family names External, family name prefixes External, forms of address External, job titles External

Sri Lanka - Example address format

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Address formats in Sri Lanka are flexible in terms of format. Here are some examples:

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image

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Addresses written in a non-native language will be written in English.

Colombo has 15 postal zones, and a sorting code number may be found written after the town name which indicates the postal district in this way:

   Colombo 12

However, this number is included as the 2nd and 3rd numbers of the postal code (e.g. 01200), and need therefore not be written after the city name if the postal code is used.

image Trilingual street name board in Kandy

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired External

Sri Lanka - Post office box

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This is written PO Box.

Sri Lanka - Postal codes

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Sri Lankan Postal Codes consist of a block of 5 digits. The first one indicates the province or the city of Colombo, the second the postal division and the rest the post office. It is written on its own on the last line of the address block.

   Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired External

Sri Lanka - Postal code format graphic

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Sri Lanka - Postal code format

Sri Lanka - Postal code specifics

n/a.

Sri Lanka - Postal code regular expression

\A\d{5,5}\Z

Sri Lanka - Postal code level of coverage

2

Sri Lanka - Postal code map

n/a

Place names in Sri Lanka

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   Note: This section last updated 31st July 2017

Refer to Exonyms in Sri Lanka for full lists of place names in Sri Lanka in other languages.

   Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm External
   Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm External

Sri Lanka - Administrative districts

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   Note: This section last updated 24th January 2012

Sri Lanka has 8 provinces External, not used in addresses. These are:

    Central External
    Eastern External
    North Central External
    Northern External
    North Western External
    Sabaragamuwa External
    Southern External
    Uva External
    Western External

Administrative districts graphic

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Telephone numbers in Sri Lanka

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Sri Lankan numbers have area codes of 2 digits when called from abroad, and subscriber numbers of 7 digits. Mobile numbers have one of these area codes: 71-72, 75, 77-78.

   Tables of telephone number information/formats can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/telephone.htm External 

References

  1. ^ citypopulation.de/en/srilanka/prov/admin/ External 20230117

Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.

All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.