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Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) Profile

Currency name: 

Sri Lankan rupee LKR converter to world currencies »

Currency code: 
LKR
Currency symbol: 

₨, Rs, SLRs, /-

Subunit: 
1/100,  cents
Coins freq used: 
₨1, ₨2, ₨5
Coins rarely used: 
1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c
Banknotes freq used: 
₨10, ₨20, ₨50, ₨100, ₨500, ₨1000, ₨2000, ₨5000
Banknotes rarely used: 
₨200
Central bank: 
Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( www.cbsl.gov.lk)
Currency users: 

Sri Lanka

Currency notes: 
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Sri Lankan rupee users

The Sri Lankan rupee is the currency of Sri Lanka (officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) which is an island country in South Asia. It locates in the northern Indian Ocean. 

Sri Lanka was formerly known as Ceylon until 1972 when Ceylon became a republic within the Commonwealth and was changed name to Sri Lanka. Ceylon declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1948. Between 1815 and 1948, it was a British Crown colony and known as British Ceylon.

Sri Lankan rupee history

The Sri Lankan rupee has been the sole legal tender of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) since January 1, 1872, replacing the British pound at 1 LKR= 2 shillings 3 pence.

British Ceylon (predecessor of Sri Lanka) started to use British Pound since 1825 and later converted to the Indian rupee area in 1836. The British pound was legal tender meanwhile the payments were made by rupees at a rate of 1 pound = 10 rupees. The Rupee was decimalized on August 23, 1871 and thus the Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) was introduced with subdivision 1 rupee = 100 cents. The exchange rate of Sri Lankan rupee to the British pound is at 1 GBP = 192.948 LKR as date of February 27, 2013.

Sri Lankan rupee coins and banknotes

The sri Lankan rupee is subdivided into 100 cents.

Currently in circulation coins are in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 rupees, and banknotes are in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 rupees. Coins of 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50- cents and banknotes in 200-rupees are not frequently used.

Sri Lankan rupee and the currency of rupee

The first rupee was introduced in the sixteenth century. It is still being used by many countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, Indonesia (as the rupiah). It was formerly used in Burma, Afghanistan and many countries of Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.

Sri Lanka started to use the rupee since 1836.

Countries currently use the rupee as official currency (exchange rate as per: March 1, 2013)
Nations Currency name Currency code 1 USD= 1 EUR= 1 GBP= Notes
Indonesia Indonesian rupiah IDR 9675.00 12592.3 14527.2 The Indonesian rupiah was introduced on 2 January 1949.
India Indian rupee  INR 54.9081 71.4646 82.4457 The Indian rupee started to replace the various rupee currencies used by Indian autonomous states since 1845 and got all replaced by 1961.
Maldives Maldivian rufiyaa MVR 15.400 20.0433 23.1257 The Maldivian rufiyaa was introduced in 1947 with equal value to the rupee.
Mauritius Mauritian rupee MUR 30.930 40.2559 46.4468 The Mauritian rupee was introduced in 1876.
Nepal Nepalese rupee NPR 87.8971 114.404 131.990 The Nepalese rupee was introduced in 1932.
Pakistan Pakistani rupee PKR 98.2574 127.889 147.548 The Pakistan rupee was introduced after the partition from British India in 1947. 
Seychelles Seychelles rupee SCR 12.3732 16.1046 18.5802 The Seychelles rupee was introduced in 1914.
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka rupee LKR 127.429 165.874 191.379 The Sri Lanka Rupee was used since January 1872.
Countries formerly used the rupee as official currency   (exchange rate as per: March 1, 2013)
Nations Currency name Currency code 1 USD= 1 EUR= 1 GBP= Notes
Afghanistan Afghan afghani AFN 51.9798 67.6616 78.0652 The Afghani replaced Rupee in 1925.
Myanmar (Burma) Myanmar(Burma)kyat MMK 861.497 1121.44 1293.72 Myanmar (Burma) Kyat replaced Rupee in 1952 at par.
United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates dirham  AED 3.673 4.78127 5.51579 Gulf rupee was used in the United Arab emirates between 1959 and 1966, equivalent to the Indian rupee. 
Bahrain Bahraini dinar BHD 0.37703 0.49075 0.56618 1. Gulf rupee was used in Bahrain between 1959 and 1966, equivalent to the Indian rupee.
2. Bahraini dinar was introduced in 1965, replacing the Gulf rupee at a rate of 1 BHD =10 Gulf rupees. 
Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar KWD 0.28375 0.36934 0.4261 1. Gulf rupee was used in Kuwaiti between1959 and 1961. It was equivalent to the Indian rupee.
2. Kuwaiti dinar was introduced in 1961, replacing the Gulf rupee at 1 dinar = 13⅓ Gulf rupee. 
Oman Omani rial OMR 0.38505 0.50119 0.57822 1. Gulf rupee was used in Oman from 1959 to 1970 and was replaced by Oman rial Saidi at a rate of approximately 1 rial Saidi =21 Gulf rupees.
2. Oman rial was introduced in 1973, replacing the rial Saidi at par.