Sri Lanka

§1. 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.

§2. Sri Lanka Geography

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

Geographic coordinates:
  7 00 N, 81 00 E

Map references:
  Asia

Area:
  total: 65,610 km²
  land: 64,740 km²
  water: 870 km²

Area - comparative:
  slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  1,340 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  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 extremes:
  lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
  highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m

Natural resources:
  limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower

Land use:
  arable land: 13.96%
  permanent crops: 15.24%
  other: 70.8% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  6,510 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
  occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Environment - current issues:
  deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by poaching
  and urbanization; coastal degradation from mining activities and increased
  pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial wastes and
  sewage runoff; waste disposal; air pollution in Colombo

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
    Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
    Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
    Wetlands
  signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:
  strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

§3. Sri Lanka 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 growth rate:
  0.78% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  15.51 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  6.52 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -1.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

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 mortality rate:
  total: 13.97 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 15.18 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 73.41 years
  male: 70.83 years
  female: 76.12 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  1.84 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  3,500 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  less than 200 (2003 est.)

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.)

§4. Sri Lanka Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
  conventional short form: Sri Lanka
  former: Serendib, Ceylon

Government type:
  republic

Capital:
  Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital

Administrative divisions:
  8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, 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 holiday:
  Independence Day, 4 February (1948)

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 branch:
  chief of state: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since 19 November 2005); the
    president is considered both the chief of state and head of government
  head of government: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since 19 November 2005);
    the president is considered both the chief of state and head of
    government
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime
    minister
  elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year 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 branch:
  unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by 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 branch:
  Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by
  the president

Political parties and leaders:
  All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC [KUMARGURUPARAM]; Ceylon Workers Congress
  or CWC [Arumugam THONDAMAN]; 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 [leader NA]; 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 [leader D.
  SIDHARTHAN]; Sihala Urumaya or SU [leader NA]; 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 pressure groups and leaders:
  Buddhist clergy; labor unions; Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE
  [Velupillai PRABHAKARAN](insurgent group fighting for a separate state);
  radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National Movement Against
  Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups

International organization participation:
  AsDB, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
  ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU,
  ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW,
  PCA, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
  WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Bernard GOONETILLEKE
  chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
  telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028)
  FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181
  consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
  consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffrey J. LUNSTEAD
  embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
  mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo
  telephone: [94] (11) 244-8007
  FAX: [94] (11) 243-7345

Flag description:
  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 around the entire flag
  and extends between the two panels

§5. Sri Lanka Economy

Economy - overview:
  In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies 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 (purchasing power parity):
  $87.15 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $21.5 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $4,300 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 17.7%
  industry: 27.1%
  services: 55.2% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  8.08 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 38%, industry 17%, services 45% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  8.4% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  22% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 3.5%
  highest 10%: 28% (1995)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  34.4 (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  11.2% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  27% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $3.804 billion
  expenditures: $5.469 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005
    est.)

Public debt:
  98.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products:
  rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, 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 production growth rate:
  6.1% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:
  7.308 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  6.796 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  79,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Current account balance:
  $-388 million (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $6.442 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut
  products, rubber manufactures, fish

Exports - partners:
  US 32.4%, UK 13.5%, India 6.8%, Germany 4.8% (2004)

Imports:
  $8.37 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and
  transportation equipment

Imports - partners:
  India 18%, Singapore 8.7%, Hong Kong 7.7%, China 5.7%, Iran 5.2%, Japan
  5.1%, Malaysia 4.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $2.384 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
  $11.59 billion (2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $577 million (1998)

Currency (code):
  Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)

Exchange rates:
  Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004), 96.521
  (2003), 95.662 (2002), 89.383 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Sri Lanka Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  1,130,923 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  3,084,845 (2005)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: very inadequate domestic service, 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 at 2.6 main lines per 100
    persons (1999)
  international: country code - 94; submarine cables to Indonesia and
    Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  21 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .lk

Internet hosts:
  6,025 (2005)

Internet users:
  280,000 (2005)

§7. Sri Lanka Transportation

Airports:
  16 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 14
  over 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
  914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 2
  under 914 m: 2 (2005)

Railways:
  total: 1,449 km
  broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2004)

Roadways:
  total: 97,287 km
  paved: 78,802 km
  unpaved: 18,485 km (2003)

Waterways:
  160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2005)

Merchant marine:
  total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 152,667 GRT/202,199 DWT
  by type: cargo 18, container 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2
  foreign-owned: 10 (Germany 8, UAE 2)
  registered in other countries: 6 (Panama 6) (2005)

Ports and terminals:
  Colombo, Galle

§8. Sri Lanka Military

Military branches:
  Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force

Military service age and obligation:
  18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 4,933,217 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 3,789,627 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 174,049 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $606.2 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  2.6% (2005 est.)

§9. Sri Lanka Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
  IDPs: 353,000 (both Tamils and non-Tamils displaced due to Tamil conflict);
    450,000 (resulting from 2004 tsunami) (2005)


<Factbook 2006>
