*Sri Lanka, Geography Location: South 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 km2 land area: 64,740 km2 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 km2 (1989 est.) Environment: occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil erosion Note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes *Sri Lanka, People Population: 17,838,190 (July 1993 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; fewer than 10,000 Tamils have been successfully repatriated to Sri Lanka Population growth rate: 1.11% (1993 est.) Birth rate: 18.71 births/1,000 population (1993 est.) Death rate: 5.84 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.) Net migration rate: -1.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.) Infant mortality rate: 22.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.51 years male: 68.94 years female: 74.21 years (1993 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.13 children born/woman (1993 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) 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) Constitution: 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 National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948) 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), 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 NA; 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), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA; Communist Party, K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), Lalith ATHULATHMUDALI and Gamini DISSANAYAKE note: the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B 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 and several other radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups); Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Elections: President: 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 *Sri Lanka, Government Parliament: 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 Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament Judicial branch: Supreme Court Leaders: Chief of State: President Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA (since 7 May 1993) Head of Government: Prime Minister Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 7 May 1993) 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 GURUGE chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 483-4025 through 4028 consulate general: 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) 43-73-45 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 *Sri Lanka, Economy Overview: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy, employing half of the labor force and accounting for one quarter of GDP. The plantation crops of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about one-third 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 1991-92 as domestic conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign investment brightened. National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $7.75 billion (1992 est.) National product real growth rate: 4.5% (1992 est.) National product per capita: $440 (1992 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1992) Unemployment rate: 15% (1991 est.) Budget: revenues $2.0 billion; expenditures $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (1992) Exports: $2.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: textiles and garments, teas, petroleum products, coconuts, rubber, other agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine products, graphite partners: US 27.4%, Germany, Japan, UK, Belgium, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China Imports: $3.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: food and beverages, textiles and textile materials, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and equipment partners: Japan, Iran, US 5.7%, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, UK External debt: $5.7 billion (1991 est.) Industrial production: growth rate 7% (1991 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP Electricity: 1,300,000 kW capacity; 3,600 million kWh produced, 200 kWh per capita (1992) 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 (1980-89), $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 - 46.342 (January 1993), 43.687 (1992), 41.372 (1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988) *Sri Lanka, Economy Fiscal year: calendar year *Sri Lanka, Communications Railroads: 1,948 km total (1990); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned Highways: 75,749 km total (1990); 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 oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987) Ports: Colombo, Trincomalee Merchant marine: 27 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 276,074 GRT/443,266 DWT; includes 12 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 3 container, 3 oil tanker, 3 bulk 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 *Sri Lanka, Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force Manpower availability: males age 15-49 4,779,221; fit for military service 3,730,737; reach military age (18) annually 178,032 (1993 est.) Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $365 million, 4.7% of GDP (1992)