Sri Lanka




                                 Geography


Location:
     Southern Asia, 29 km southeast of India across the Palk Strait in the
     Indian Ocean
Map references:
     Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
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 the edge of 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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
     Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea,
     Marine Life Conservation
Note:
     strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes


                                  People


Population:
     18,129,850 (July 1994 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
Population growth rate:
     1.18% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     18.51 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     5.77 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     -0.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     21.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     71.9 years
male:
     69.37 years
female:
     74.55 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     2.12 children born/woman (1994 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.)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form:
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 Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA (since 7 May 1993); election last
     held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1994); results -
     Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%,
     other 5%; note - following the assassination of President PREMADASA on
     1 May 1993, Prime Minister WIJETUNGA became acting president; on 7 May
     1993, he was confirmed by a vote of Parliament to finish out the term
     of the assassinated president
cabinet:
     Cabinet; appointed by the president in consultation with the prime
     minister
Legislative branch:
     unicameral
Parliament:
     elections last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by NA 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
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
     United National Party (UNP), Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA; Sri Lanka
     Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
     (SLMC), M. H. M. ASHRAFF; All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), C. G.
     Kumar PONNAMBALAM; People's United Front (MEP, or Mahajana Eksath
     Peramuna), Dinesh GUNAWARDENE; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF),
     M. SIVASITHAMBARAM; 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), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA;
     Communist Party, K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N.
     SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), G. M.
     PREMACHANDRA; Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas
     DEVANANDA; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), leader NA;
     Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRL), Suresh
     PREMACHANDRAN; Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS),
     Shankar RAJI; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE),
     Dharmalingam SIDARTHAN; Liberal Party (LP), Chanaka AMARATUNGA; Ceylon
     Workers Congress (CLDC), S. THONDAMAN; 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 (PEP)
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, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
     IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
     UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO




Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Ananda W.P. GURUGE
chancery:
     2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 483-4025 through 4028
FAX:
     (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) 44-80-07
FAX:
     [94] (1) 57-42-64
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 1991-93 as domestic
     conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign investment
     brightened.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $53.5 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     5% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $3,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     11.6% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
     15% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $2.3 billion
expenditures:
     $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1993)




Exports:
     $2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
     garments and textiles, teas, gems, petroleum products, coconuts,
     rubber, other agricultural products, marine products, graphite
partners:
     US 33.4%, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Japan, France, Singapore (1992)
Imports:
     $3 billion (c.i.f., 1992)
commodities:
     food and beverages, textiles and textile materials, petroleum and
     petroleum products, machinery and equipment
partners:
     Japan, India, US 4.3%, UK, Singapore, Germany, Hong King, Taiwan,
     South Korea (1991)
External debt:
     $5.2 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 7% (1991 est.); accounts for 16.5% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
     1,300,000 kW
production:
     3.6 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     200 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural
     commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
Agriculture:
     accounts for one-fourth 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:
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 - 49.672 (January 1994), 48.322
     (1993), 43.687 (1992), 41.372 (1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989)
Fiscal year:
     calendar year


                              Communications


Railroads:
     1,948 km total (1990); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double
     track; no electrification; government owned




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, Trincomalee
Merchant marine:
     26 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 289,115 GRT/453,609 DWT, bulk 2,
     cargo 12, container 1, oil tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 8
Airports:
total:
     14
usable:
     13
with permanent-surface runways:
     12
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     8
Telecommunications:
     very inadequate domestic service, good international service; 114,000
     telephones (1982); broadcast 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 age 15-49 4,906,666; fit for military service 3,825,774; reach
     military age (18) annually 178,213 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $417 million, 3.5% of GDP (1994 est.)