SRI LANKA
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
SRI LANKA
@Sri Lanka:Geography
Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Map references: Asia
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SRI LANKA - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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COLOMBO 683,000 6.55N, 79.52E 94-1 GMT+5.5
Dehiwala 191,000 6.52N, 79.52E 94- GMT+5.5
Jaffna 143,000 9.40N, 80.01E 94-21 GMT+5.5
Moratuwa 138,000 6.47N, 79.53E 94-1 GMT+5.5
Kandy 130,000 7.17N, 80.40E 94-8 GMT+5.5
Galle 109,000 6.01N, 80.13E 94-9 GMT+5.5
Negombo 61,000 7.13N, 79.51E 94-31 GMT+5.5
Trincomalee 44,000 8.34N, 81.14E 94-26 GMT+5.5
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Area:
total area: 65,610 sq km
land area: 64,740 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
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
Natural resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems,
phosphates, clay
Land use:
arable land: 16%
permanent crops: 17%
meadows and pastures: 7%
forest and woodland: 37%
other: 23%
Irrigated land: 5,600 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations
threatened by poaching; coastal degradation from mining activities and
increased pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial
wastes and sewage runoff
natural hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Marine Life Conservation
Note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
@Sri Lanka:People
Population: 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: 29% (female 2,597,969; male 2,713,696)
15-64 years: 65% (female 6,042,228; male 5,902,343)
65 years and over: 6% (female 547,715; male 538,709) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.15% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 18.13 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 21.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.14 years
male: 69.58 years
female: 74.82 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.08 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions: Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay,
and Vedda 1%
Religions: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%
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 can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 88%
male: 93%
female: 84%
Labor force: 6.6 million
by occupation: agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%,
trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)
@Sri Lanka:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Ceylon
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 UK)
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:
chief of state and head of government: President Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Sirimavo
BANDARANAIKE is the Prime Minister; in Sri Lanka the president is
considered to be both the chief of state and the head of the
government, this is in contrast to the more common practice of
dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when
both offices exist; election last held 9 November 1994 (next to be
held NA November 2000); results - Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA
(People's Alliance) 62%, Srima DISSANAYAKE (United National Party)
37%, other 1%
cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president in consultation with the
prime minister
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
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), Ranil WICKREMANSINGHE; 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, GATT, 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, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Jayantha DHANAPALA
chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 through 4028
FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181
consulate(s): New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Teresita C. SCHAFFER
embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo
telephone: [94] (1) 448007
FAX: [94] (1) 437345
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 and
accounts for over 16% of GDP. The economy has been plagued by high
rates of unemployment since the late 1970s. Economic growth, which has
been depressed by ethnic unrest, accelerated in 1991-94 as domestic
conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign investment
brightened. Currently, however, the new government's emphasis on
populist measures has clouded Sri Lanka's economic prospects.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $57.6 billion (1994
est.)
National product real growth rate: 5% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $3,190 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 13.6% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.3 billion
expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5
billion (1993)
Exports: $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: garments and textiles, teas, diamonds, other gems,
petroleum products, rubber products, other agricultural products,
marine products, graphite
partners: US 35.2%, Germany, UK, Belgium-Luxembourg, Japan,
Netherlands, France (1993)
Imports: $4 billion (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities: textiles and textile materials, machinery and equipment,
transport equipment, petroleum, building materials
partners: Japan, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore,
China (1993)
External debt: $7.2 billion (1993 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 9% (1993 est.); accounts for 16% of
GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 1,410,000 kW
production: 3.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 168 kWh (1993)
Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other
agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining,
textiles, tobacco
Agriculture: accounts for one-fourth 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:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1 billion;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1980-89), $5.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $369 million
Currency: 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1 - 50.115 (January
1995), 49.415 (1994), 48.322 (1993), 43.830 (1992), 41.372 (1991),
40.063 (1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Sri Lanka:Transportation
Railroads:
total: 1,948 km
broad gauge: 1,948 km 1.868-m gauge (102 km double track) (1990)
Highways:
total: 75,263 km
paved: mostly bituminous treated 27,637 km
unpaved: crushed stone, gravel 32,887 km; improved, unimproved earth
14,739 km
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:
total: 26 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 289,115 GRT/453,609 DWT
ships by type: bulk 2, cargo 12, container 1, oil tanker 3,
refrigerated cargo 8
Airports:
total: 14
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 7
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
@Sri Lanka:Communications
Telephone system: 114,000 telephones (1982); very inadequate domestic
service, good international service
local: NA
intercity: NA
international: submarine cables extend to Indonesia and Djibouti; 2
INTELSAT (Indian Ocean) earth stations
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 5, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 5
televisions: NA
@Sri Lanka:Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 4,990,661; males fit for
military service 3,888,372; males reach military age (18) annually
178,926 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $412 million, 3.6% of
GDP (1994)
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