{"id":"gotabaya-rajapaksa","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/gotabaya-rajapaksa","language":"en","name":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa","name_en":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa","name_ne":"गोटाबय राजपाक्षे","description":"President of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022","headline":"President of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan former politician and retired military officer who served as the eighth president of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022. Before his presidency, he served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 during the regime of his brother, president Mahinda Rajapaksa, playing a central role in the final phase of the Sri Lankan civil war.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"20 June 1949","date":"1949-06-20"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Matara District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1281285"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P19"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Sri Lanka","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q854"},{"text":"United States","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30","start":"2003","end":"2019"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"civil servant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q212238"},{"text":"military officer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189290"},{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"},{"text":"soldier","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4991371"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28456145"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"Ananda College","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3523079"},{"text":"Defence Services Staff College","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5251267"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Ioma Rajapaksa","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110644109"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"Minister of Technology (26 November 2020 – 14 July 2022)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107970219","start":"2020-11-26","end":"2022-07-14"},{"text":"Minister of Defence (28 November 2019 – 14 July 2022)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16056689","start":"2019-11-28","end":"2022-07-14"},{"text":"President of Sri Lanka (18 November 2019 – 14 July 2022)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2914380","start":"2019-11-18","end":"2022-07-14"},{"text":"defence minister","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2518691"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Rana Wickrama Padakkama","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7290670"},{"text":"Rana Sura Padakkama","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7290662"},{"text":"Desha Putra Sammanaya","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5264143"},{"text":"Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25101594"},{"text":"Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25101593"},{"text":"Purna Bhumi Padakkama","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7261328"},{"text":"North and East Operations Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17072652"},{"text":"Vadamarachchi Operation Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7908151"},{"text":"Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7585894"},{"text":"President's Inauguration Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7241166"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P166"}},{"key":"x","label":"X (Twitter)","values":[{"text":"GotabayaR","url":"https://x.com/GotabayaR"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702#P2002"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotabaya_Rajapaksa","https://ne.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE_%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%87","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702","https://x.com/GotabayaR"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Gotabaya Rajapaksa born?","a":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born on 20 June 1949 in Matara District."},{"q":"What positions has Gotabaya Rajapaksa held?","a":"Positions held by Gotabaya Rajapaksa include: Minister of Technology (2020–2022); Minister of Defence (2019–2022); President of Sri Lanka (2019–2022); defence minister."},{"q":"Where did Gotabaya Rajapaksa study?","a":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa was educated at Ananda College, Defence Services Staff College."}],"related":[{"name":"Mahinda Rajapaksa","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mahinda-rajapaksa"},{"name":"Chandrika Kumaratunga","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/chandrika-kumaratunga"},{"name":"Ranil Wickremesinghe","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ranil-wickremesinghe"},{"name":"Maithripala Sirisena","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/maithripala-sirisena"},{"name":"J. R. Jayewardene","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/j-r-jayewardene"},{"name":"Ranasinghe Premadasa","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ranasinghe-premadasa"},{"name":"D. B. Wijetunga","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/d-b-wijetunga"},{"name":"William Gopallawa","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/william-gopallawa"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/gotabaya-rajapaksa-34f11d9366.jpg","width":500,"height":698,"license":"CC BY 2.0","credit":"Mr Jorge Cardoso / Ministério da Defesa","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nandasena_Gotabaya_Rajapaksa.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Gotabaya Rajapaksa","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotabaya_Rajapaksa","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikipedia (Nepali): गोटाबय राजपाक्षे","url":"https://ne.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE_%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%87","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q1538702","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1538702","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa.jpg by Mr Jorge Cardoso / Ministério da Defesa (CC BY 2.0)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nandasena_Gotabaya_Rajapaksa.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Gotabaya Rajapaksa, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa.jpg — Mr Jorge Cardoso / Ministério da Defesa, CC BY 2.0.","cite":"\"Gotabaya Rajapaksa\". DigiNepal. Last updated 9 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/gotabaya-rajapaksa. Retrieved 10 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-09T06:51:08Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-09","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/gotabaya-rajapaksa","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/gotabaya-rajapaksa","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/gotabaya-rajapaksa?lang=ne"}}