19 Facts About Sri Lanka

1. Sri Lanka has suffered a 'coup without guns': parliament speaker.

2. Sri Lanka counting on Herath against England one last time.

3. Sri Lanka has won the Carrom World Championship titles twice in 2012, 2016 and 2018, men's team becoming champions and women's team coming 2nd place.

4. Sri Lanka once held highest team score in all three formats of cricket, where currently holds Test team total.

5. Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008 and 2014.

6. While the national sport in Sri Lanka is volleyball, by far the most popular sport in the country is cricket.

7. Sri Lanka claims a democratic tradition matched by few other developing countries.

8. Sri Lanka has an extensive road network for inland transportation.

9. Sri Lanka has approximately 9675 government schools, 817 private schools and Pirivenas.

10. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Sri Lanka became a plantation economy, famous for its production and export of cinnamon, rubber and Ceylon tea, which remains a trademark national export.

11. In the present, Sri Lanka enjoys extensive relations with China, Russia, and Pakistan.

12. Sri Lanka played a vital role at the Asian–African Conference in 1955, which was an important step in the crystallisation of the NAM.

13. Sri Lanka became a member of the United Nations in 1955.

14. Sri Lanka is essentially a multi-party democracy with many smaller Buddhist, socialist and Tamil nationalist political parties.

15. Sri Lanka is home to over 250 types of resident birds.

16. Sri Lanka is separated from the mainland portion of the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait.

17. Sri Lanka never really recovered from the impact of Kalinga Magha's invasion.

18. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of only two South Asian countries rated "high" on the Human Development Index, with its HDI rating and per capita income the highest among South Asian nations.

19. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule as Ceylon.