Transport in Sri Lanka is based on its road network, which is centred on the country's commercial capital Colombo. A rail network handles a portion of Sri Lanka's transport needs. There are navigable waterways, harbours and three international airports: in Katunayake, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Colombo, in Hambantota, and in Jaffna.
Colombo is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban/suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments.
The Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs in New York City into the Maranzano, Profaci, Mangano, Luciano, and Gagliano families, which are now known as the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families, respectively. Each family had a demarcated territory and an organizationally structured hierarchy and reported to the same overarching governing entity.
The Colombo crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, following the assassinations of "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci became recognized as the Profaci crime family.
Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) (Sinhala: බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, romanized: Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; Tamil: பண்டாரநாயக்க சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், romanized: Paṇṭāranāyakka Carvatēca Vimāṉa Nilaiyam) (commonly known as Colombo International Airport, Colombo–Bandaranaike International Airport, and locally as Katunayake International Airport) (IATA: CMB, ICAO: VCBI) is the main international airport in Sri Lanka. It is named after former Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1899–1959) and is in the suburb of Negombo, 32.5 kilometres (20+1⁄4 miles) north of the nation's capital and commercial center, Colombo.
The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. The country comes under the province of Colombo and is made up of 12 dioceses including one archdiocese. There are approximately 1.2 million Catholics in Sri Lanka representing around 6.1% of the total population. Later estimates suggest that there are over 1.6 million in 2020.
Nalanda College is a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka where provides primary and secondary education for Sri Lankan boys. The school was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College Colombo and was registered as a separate school on 1 November 1925.
Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) is a ship building company in Sri Lanka and it is based in Colombo. It has built both military and civilian vessels for both local and overseas clients.
The current legislative capital of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and the executive and judicial capital is Colombo. Over the course of the island's history, the national capital has been in several locations other thanSri Jayawardenepura Kotte.
Sri Lanka has a free and universal health care system. It scores higher than the regional average in healthcare having a high Life expectancy and a lower maternal and infant death rate than its neighbors. It is known for having one of the world's earliest known healthcare systems and has its own indigenous medicine system.
The Port of Colombo Sinhala: කොළඹ වරාය, Tamil: கொழும்பு துறைமுகம் is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an important terminal in Asia due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. During the 1980s, the port underwent rapid modernization with the installation of cranes, gantries and other modern-day terminal requirements.
Arumadura Lawrence Romelo Duminda Silva, popularly as Duminda Silva or R. Dumindha Silva, is a Sri Lankan politician and a former Member of Parliament. He is the brother of Raynor Silva, owner of the Asia Broadcasting Corporation. On 8 September 2016 he was sentenced to death by the High Court of Sri Lanka for the murder of Sri Lankan politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, a political rival.
Lakshman Joseph de Saram is a film composer and classical musician. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and educated at the Royal College, Colombo, the High School of Performing Arts, Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard Pre-College in New York City, Joseph de Saram is influential in the music of South Asian art cinema, having scored many international award-winning films like 'Between Two Worlds' and 'Akasa Kusum.' His best-known score is to the 2012 film Bel Ami. Joseph de Saram is also artistic director of The Chamber Music Society of Colombo.
The Sri Lanka People's Front, commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is a political party in Sri Lanka. It was the ruling party in Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022 and was the largest party in parliament from 2020 to 2024. Previously a minor political party known as the Sri Lanka National Front (SLNF) and Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (OSLFF), it was relaunched in 2016 as the SLPP and the party became the base for members of the United People's Freedom Alliance loyal to its former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Rajapaksa family.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to April 15, 2018.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 October to 18 October 2018.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to compete at the 2022 World Championships in Athletics in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15−24, 2022.
