from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Sri Lanka
Introduction
Background: The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th
century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism
was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century
B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities
of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa
A.D. 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200).
In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized
power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom.
Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by
the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to
the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and
was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it
became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri
Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority
and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. Tens of
thousands have died in an ethnic conflict that
continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the
government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
formalized a cease-fire in February 2002, with Norway
brokering peace negotiations.
Geography
Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
India
Geographic 7 00 N, 81 00 E
coordinates:
Map Asia
references:
Area: total: 65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km
water: 870 sq km
Area - slightly larger than West Virginia
comparative:
Land 0 km
boundaries:
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin
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
Elevation lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
extremes: highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m
Natural limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates,
resources: clay, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 13.96%
permanent crops: 15.24%
other: 70.8% (2005)
Irrigated 7,430 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural occasional cyclones and tornadoes
hazards:
Environment - deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations
current threatened by poaching and urbanization; coastal
issues: degradation from mining activities and increased
pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by
industrial wastes and sewage runoff; waste disposal;
air pollution in Colombo
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
international Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
agreements: Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
note:
People
Population: 20,222,240
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 and more than 200,000 Tamils have
sought refuge in the West (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.1% (male 2,488,689/female 2,379,233)
15-64 years: 68.6% (male 6,727,399/female 7,140,751)
65 years and over: 7.3% (male 687,842/female 798,326)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 29.8 years
male: 28.7 years
female: 30.9 years (2006 est.)
Population 0.78% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 15.51 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 6.52 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -1.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 13.97 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 15.18 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 73.41 years
expectancy at male: 70.83 years
birth: female: 76.12 years (2006 est.)
Total 1.84 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 3,500 (2001 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - less than 200 (2003 est.)
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan
Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil
4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified
10% (2001 census provisional data)
Religions: Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian
6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil
(national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English is commonly used in government and is
spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.3%
male: 94.8%
female: 90% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic
of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
local long form: Shri Lamka Prajatantrika Samajaya di
Janarajaya/Ilankai Jananayaka Choshalichak Kutiyarachu
local short form: Shri Lamka/Ilankai
former: Serendib, Ceylon
Government republic
type:
Capital: name: Colombo
geographic coordinates: 6 56 N, 79 51 E
time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of
Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative capital)
Administrative 8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern,
divisions: North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western
note: in 1998 the Government of Sri Lanka proposed a
merger of the former Northern and Eastern provinces;
while this merger was never ratified, the Government
treats North Eastern Province as a de facto singular
administrative unit
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK)
National Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
holiday:
Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 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 chief of state: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since 19
branch: November 2005); note - the president is both the chief
of state and head of government; Ratnasiri
WICKREMANAYAKE (since 21 November 2005) holds the
ceremonial title of prime minister
head of government: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since
19 November 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in
consultation with the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a
six-year term (eligible for a second term); election
last held 17 November 2005 (next to be held 2011)
election results: Mahinda RAJAPAKSE elected president;
percent of vote - Mahinda RAJAPAKSE 50.3%, Ranil
WICKREMESINGHE 48.4%, other 1.3%
Legislative unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by
branch: popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional
representation system by district to serve six-year
terms)
elections: last held 2 April 2004 (next to be held by
2010)
election results: percent of vote by party or electoral
alliance - SLFP and JVP (no longer in formal UPFA
alliance) 45.6%, UNP 37.83%, TNA 6.84%, JHU 5.97%, SLMC
2.02%, UPF 0.54%, EPDP 0.27%, others 0.93%; seats by
party - UNP 68, SLFP 57, JVP 39, UNP dissident 1, TNA
22, CWC 8, JHU 7, JHU dissidents 2, SLMC 6, SLMC
dissidents 4, Communist Party 2, LSSP 2, MEP 2, NUA 2,
UPF 2, EPDP 1
Judicial Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts
branch: are appointed by the president
Political All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC [KUMARGURUPARAM];
parties and Ceylon Workers Congress or CWC [Arumugam THONDAMAN];
leaders: Communist Party or CP [D. GUNASEKERA]; Democratic
United National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF [Shrimani
ATULATHMUDALI]; Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP
[Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's Revolutionary
Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRAN];
Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna or JVP [Somawansa
AMARASINGHE]; Lanka Sama Samaja Party or LSSP; Mahajana
Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) or MEP [D.
GUNAWARDENE]; National Heritage Party or JHU [Tilak
KARUNARATNE]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial
ASHRAFF]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil
Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDHARTHAN]; Sihala Urumaya or SU;
Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Chandrika Bandaranaike
KUMARATUNGA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff
HAKEEM]; Sri Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF [P. Nelson
PERERA]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO
[SABARATNAM]; Tamil National Alliance or TNA [R.
SAMPANTHAN]; Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF [V.
ANANDASANGAREE]; United National Party or UNP [Ranil
WICKREMASINGHE]; Up-country People's Front or UPF [P.
CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim
parties, represented in either Parliament or provincial
councils
Political Buddhist clergy; labor unions; Liberation Tigers of
pressure Tamil Eelam or LTTE [Velupillai PRABHAKARAN](insurgent
groups and group fighting for a separate state); radical
leaders: chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National
Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay
groups
International AsDB, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA,
organization IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
participation: IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU,
MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer),
OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UNMIS, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Bernard GOONETILLEKE
representation chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028)
FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
consulate(s): New York
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Robert O. BLAKE, Jr.
representation embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
from the US: mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo
telephone: [94] (11) 249-8500
FAX: [94] (11) 243-7345
Flag yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel
description: 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 around the entire flag and extends between
the two panels
Economy
Economy - In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies
overview: and its import substitution trade policy for
market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri
Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing,
textiles and apparel, food and beverages,
telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2003,
plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (compared
with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments
accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate
of about 5.5% in the 1990s, but 2001 saw the first
contraction in the country's history, by 1.4%, due to a
combination of power shortages, severe budgetary
problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil
strife. Growth recovered to 5% between 2002 and 2005.
About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the
Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a year.
The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east
for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a
shadow over the economy. In late December 2004, a major
tsunami took about 31,000 lives, left more than 6,300
missing and 443,000 displaced, and destroyed an
estimated $1.5 billion worth of property.
GDP $86.07 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $21.62 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 6% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $4,300 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 17.8%
composition by industry: 27.6%
sector: services: 54.5% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 8.08 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 38%
by occupation: industry: 17%
services: 45% (1998 est.)
Unemployment 7.7% (2005 est.)
rate:
Population 22% (1997 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 3.5%
income or highest 10%: 28% (1995)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 34.4 (1995)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 11.6% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 26.1% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $3.804 billion
expenditures: $5.469 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt: 92.8% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea,
products: rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish
Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other
agricultural commodities; telecommunications,
insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement,
petroleum refining
Industrial 8.2% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 7.308 billion kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 51.7%
production by hydro: 48.3%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - 6.796 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 79,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Current $-776 million (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $6.442 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds,
commodities: emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber
manufactures, fish
Exports - US 30.9%, UK 11.6%, India 7.3%, Belgium 4.8%, Germany
partners: 4.5% (2005)
Imports: $8.37 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum,
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment
Imports - India 19.7%, China 9.9%, Singapore 7.2%, Iran 5.5%,
partners: Malaysia 4.6%, Hong Kong 4.5% (2005)
Reserves of $2.737 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $11.05 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $577 million (1998)
recipient:
Currency Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
(code):
Currency code: LKR
Exchange Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 100.498 (2005),
rates: 101.194 (2004), 96.521 (2003), 95.662 (2002), 89.383
(2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 1.244 million (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 3.362 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: very inadequate domestic service,
system: particularly in rural areas; likely improvement with
privatization of national telephone company and
encouragement to private investment; good international
service (1999)
domestic: national trunk network consists mostly of
digital microwave radio relay; fiber-optic links now in
use in Colombo area and two fixed wireless local loops
have been installed; competition is strong in mobile
cellular systems; telephone density remains low (1999)
international: country code - 94; submarine cables to
Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999)
Radio AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 3.85 million (1997)
Television 21 (1997)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 1.53 million (1997)
Internet .lk
country code:
Internet 6,526 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 5 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 280,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 16 (2006)
Airports - total: 14
with paved over 3,047 m: 1
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2006)
Airports - total: 2
with unpaved under 914 m: 2 (2006)
runways:
Railways: total: 1,449 km
broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 97,287 km
paved: 78,802 km
unpaved: 18,485 km (2003)
Waterways: 160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2005)
Merchant total: 22 ships (1000 GRT or over) 144,066 GRT/196,418
marine: DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 17, container 2,
petroleum tanker 2
foreign-owned: 7 (Germany 5, UAE 2)
registered in other countries: 5 (Panama 5) (2006)
Ports and Colombo, Galle
terminals:
Military
Military Sri Lankan Army, Sri Lankan Navy, Sri Lankan Air Force
branches: (2006)
Military 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 4,933,217
available for females age 18-49: 5,153,597 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 3,789,627
for military females age 18-49: 4,281,043 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 174,049
reaching females age 18-49: 167,201 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $606.2 million (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 2.6% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - none
international:
Refugees and IDPs: 353,000 (both Tamils and non-Tamils displaced due
internally to Tamil conflict); 450,000 (resulting from 2004
displaced tsunami) (2005)
persons: