Sri Lanka is a small island off the south-eastern coast shores of India, 880 km north of the equator, in the Indian Ocean with an area of 65 525 sq km. Sri Lanka is a free, independent and sovereign nation (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) with an estimated population of 20 926 315 (July 2007) with a population density of 309 people per sq. km (1). Sri Lanka is a lower middle income developing nation with a gross domestic product of about $32 billion. This translates into a per capita income of $1600. Sri Lanka's literacy rate 91·8% (2), and life expectancy of 72 years rank well above those of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan (3).
RanawakaU.De SilvaH.BalasuriyaJ.: Prevalence of stroke in a Sri Lankan community. OP38- Sri Lanka Medical Association 116th Anniversary Academic Sessions: programme and abstract book2003: p. 47.
