Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 

 
Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India

Area

Land Boundaries

0 km

Coastline

1,340 km

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

None

Climate

Tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)

Terrain

Mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

5,600 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment

Note: Strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

PEOPLE

Population

18,553,074 (July 1996 est.)
18,342,660 (July 1995 est.)

Note: Since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of late 1992, nearly 115,000 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 95,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West

Age Structure

0-14 Years

28% (male 2,673,943; female 2,559,569) (July 1996 est.)
29% (male 2,713,696; female 2,597,969) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

66% (male 6,023,759; female 6,171,964) (July 1996 est.)
65% (male 5,902,343female 6,042,228) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

6% (male 553,940; female 569,899) (July 1996 est.)
6% (male 538,709; female 547,715) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

1.13% (1996 est.)
1.15% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

17.89 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
18.13 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

5.8 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
5.78 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

-0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
-0.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
all ages: 1 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

20.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
21.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

2.05 children born/woman (1996 est.)
2.08 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%

Note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)

Labor Force

6.1 million

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Digraph

CE

Type

Republic

Capital

Colombo

Administrative Divisions

8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western

Independence

4 February 1948 (from U.K.)

National Holiday

Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)

Constitution

Adopted 16 August 1978

Legal System

A highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Unicameral

Parliament

Elections last held 16 August 1994 (next to be held by August 2000); results - PA 49.0%, UNP 44.0%, SLMC 1.8%, TULF 1.7%, SLPF 1.1%, EPDP 0.3%, UPF 0.3%, PLOTE 0.1%, other 1.7%; seats - (225 total) PA 105, UNP 94, EPDP 9, SLMC 7, TULF 5, PLOTE 3, SLPF 1, UPF 1

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission

Political Parties and Leaders

All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), C. G. Kumar PONNAMBALAM; Ceylon Workers Congress (CLDC), S. THONDAMAN; Communist Party, K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic People's Liberation Front (DPLF), leader NA; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), G. M. PREMACHANDRA; Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas DEVANANDA; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRL), Suresh PREMACHANDRAN; Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), Shankar RAJI; Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or Lanka Sama Samaja Party), Colin R. DE SILVA; Liberal Party (LP), Chanaka AMARATUNGA; New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja Party), Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA; People's Alliance (PA), Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Dharmalingam SIDARTHAN; People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh GUNAWARDENE; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF; Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka Mahajana Party), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA; Sri Lanka Progressive Front (SLPF), leader NA; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), leader NA; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), M. SIVASITHAMBARAM; United National Party (UNP), Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA; Upcountry People's Front (UPF), leader NA; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in either parliament or provincial councils

Note: The United Socialist Alliance (USA), which was formed in 1987 and included the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B, was defunct as of 1993, following the formation of the People's Alliance Party (PA)

Other Political or Pressure Groups

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; other radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups; Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions

Member of

AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

National Anthem

Flag

Yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag and extends between the two panels

ECONOMY

Overview

Industry - dominated by the fast-growing apparel industry - has surpassed agriculture as the main source of export earnings. The economy has been plagued by high rates of unemployment since the late 1970s. Economic growth accelerated in 1991-94 as domestic conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign investment brightened. In 1995, however, the government's emphasis on populist measures and its preoccupation with the stepped-up Tamil insurgency have clouded Sri Lanka's economic prospects and discouraged foreign investors. A further problem for 1996 is the need to curb government overspending.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $65.6 billion (1995 est.); $57.6 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

5% (1995 est.)
5% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$3,600 (1995 est.)
$3,190 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

8.4% (1994 est.)
12% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

13% (1994 est.)
13.6% (1993 est.)

Budget

Exports

$3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
$2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1993)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$4.8 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
$4 billion (c.i.f., 1993)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

$8.8 billion (1994 est.)
$7.2 billion (1993 est.)

Industrial Production

Growth rate 9% (1994 est.); accounts for 24% of GDP

Electricity

Industries

Agriculture

Accounts for 24% of GDP; field crops - rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseeds, roots, spices; cash crops - tea, rubber, coconuts; animal products - milk, eggs, hides, meat; not self-sufficient in rice production

Economic Aid

Currency

1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Exchange Rates

Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1 - 54.158 (January 1996), 51.252 (1995), 49.415 (1994), 48.322 (1993), 43.830 (1992), 41.372 (1991), 40.063 (1990)

Fiscal Year

Calendar year

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

Inland Waterways

430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Pipelines

Crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)

Ports

Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee

Merchant Marine

Airports

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

175,000 telephones (1982); very inadequate domestic service, good international service

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 5,085,306; males fit for military service 3,960,070; males reach military age (18) annually 180,825 (1996 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $640 million, 4.4% of GDP (1996); $412 million, 3.6% of GDP (1994)

History
World Atlas