SRI LANKA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 65,610 km2; land area: 64,740 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; 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%; includes irrigated 8%
Environment: occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil
erosion
Note: only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major
Indian Ocean sea lanes
PEOPLE
Population: 17,423,736 (July 1991), growth rate 1.2% (1991)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 21 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Sri Lankan(s); adjective--Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions: Sinhalese 74%; Tamil 18%; Moor 7%; Burgher,
Malay, and Veddha 1%
Religion: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%
Language: Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national
languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by
about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of
the population
Literacy: 86% (male 91%, female 81%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1981)
Labor force: 6,600,000; agriculture 45.9%, mining and
manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4%
(1985 est.)
Organized labor: about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which are
employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Type: republic
Capital: Colombo
Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Amparai, Anuradhapura,
Badulla, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna,
Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla, Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala,
Mullaittivu, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee,
Vavuniya; note--the administrative structure may now include 8 provinces
(Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa,
Southern, Uva, and Western) and 25 districts (with Kilinochchi added to
the existing districts)
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK; formerly Ceylon)
Constitution: 31 August 1978
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law,
Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January
1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since
6 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe PREMADASA;
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE;
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF;
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar PONNAMBALAM;
People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath Peramuna), Dinesh
GUNAWARDENE;
Eelam Democratic Front (EDF), Edward Sebastian PILLAI;
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader (vacant);
Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS), Velupillai
BALAKUMARAN;
New Socialist Party (NSSP, or Nava Sama Samaja Party),
Vasudeva NANAYAKKARA;
Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite (LSSP, or Lanka Sama Samaja Party),
Colin R. de SILVA;
Sri Lanka People's Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka Mahajana Party),
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARANATUNGA;
Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. SILVA;
Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN;
note--the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP,
SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held
December 1994);
results--Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%,
Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%;
Parliament--last held 15 February 1989
(next to be held by February 1995);
results--UNP 51%, SLFP 32%, SLMC 4%, TULF 3%, USA 3%, EROS 3%, MEP 1%,
other 3%;
seats--(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, other 33
Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP or People's Liberation Front); 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, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. Susanta De ALWIS; Chancery
at 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4025
through 4028; there is a Sri Lankan Consulate in New York;
US--Ambassador Marion V. CREEKMORE, Jr.; Embassy at 210 Galle Road,
Colombo 3 (mailing address is P. O. Box 106, Colombo); telephone 94 (1)
448007
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: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy,
employing about 45% of the labor force and accounting for 26% of
GDP. The plantation crops of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about 35%
of export earnings. 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 1990 as domestic conditions
began to improve.
GDP: $6.6 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 4.5% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 23% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 20% (1990 est.)
Budget: revenues $1.7 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion,
including capital expenditures of $0.5 billion (1990)
Exports: $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--tea, textiles and garments, petroleum products,
coconut, rubber, agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine
products;
partners--US 26%, FRG, Japan, UK, Belgium, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China
Imports: $2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--food and beverages, textiles and textile materials,
petroleum, machinery and equipment;
partners--Japan, Saudi Arabia, US 5.6%, India, Singapore, FRG, UK,
Iran
External debt: $5.6 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 6% (1989 est.); accounts for
18% of GDP
Electricity: 1,300,000 kW capacity; 4,200 million kWh produced,
240 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other
agricultural commodities; cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco,
clothing
Agriculture: accounts for 26% of GDP and nearly half of labor
force; most important staple crop is paddy rice; other field
crops--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: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1980-88), $4.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $369 million
Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (plural--rupees);
1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRs) per US$1--40.272 (January
1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988), 29.445 (1987), 28.017
(1986), 27.163 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 1,948 km total (1989); all 1.868-meter broad gauge;
102 km double track; no electrification; government owned
Highways: 75,263 km total (1988); 27,637 km paved (mostly
bituminous treated), 32,887 km crushed stone or gravel, 14,739 km
improved earth or unimproved earth; several thousand km of mostly
unmotorable tracks (1988 est.)
Inland waterways: 430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft
Pipelines: crude and refined products, 62 km (1987)
Ports: Colombo, Trincomalee
Merchant marine: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 364,466
GRT/551,686 DWT; includes 18 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 5 container,
2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk
Civil air: 8 major transport (including 1 leased)
Airports: 14 total, 13 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good international service; 114,000 telephones
(1982); stations--12 AM, 5 FM, 5 TV; submarine cables extend to
Indonesia and Djibouti; 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 4,636,767; 3,625,289 fit for
military service; 178,010 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $300 million, 5% of GDP (1991)