Map of Sri Lanka | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: The first Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C. probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced 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 established a Tamil kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. The coastal areas of the island were controlled 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 the ethnic conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formalized a cease-fire in February 2002 with Norway brokering peace negotiations. Violence between the LTTE and government forces intensified in 2006 and the government regained control of the Eastern Province in 2007. In May 2009 the government announced that its military had finally defeated the remnants of the LTTE and that its leader Velupillai PRABHAKARAN had been killed.


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

Geographic coordinates: 7 00 N 81 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 65,610 km²
Rank: 121
Land: 64,630 km²
Water: 980 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1340 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
Extremes 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: 7,430 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 50 km³ (1999)

Natural hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Geography
Note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes


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Population: 21,324,791
Rank: 53
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 2009 est.)
Growth rate: 0.904% (2009 est.)
Growth rate rank: 134
Below poverty line: 22% (2002 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Sri Lankan
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)

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

Religions: Buddhist 69.1% Muslim 7.6% Hindu 7.1% Christian 6.2% unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 23.9%
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,089,307/female 7,418,123)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 803,172/female 926,372) (2009 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 30.9 years
Male: 29.9 years
Female: 31.8 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.904% (2009 est.)
Rank: 134

Birth rate: 16.26 births/1000 population (2009 est.)
Rank: 130

Death rate: 6.13 deaths/1000 population (July 2009 est.)
Rank: 158

Net migration rate: -1.09 migrant(s)/1000 population (2009 est.)
Rank: 124

Population distribution

Urbanization
Urban population: 15% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Major urban areas

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
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
International agreements signed but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.04 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 18.57 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 111
Male: 20.33 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 16.73 deaths/1000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.14 years
Rank: 84
Male: 73.08 years
Female: 77.28 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.99 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Rank: 131

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 164
People living with hivaids: 3,800 (2007 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 127
Deaths: fewer than 200 (2003 est.)
Deaths rank: 124

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
Vectorborne disease: dengue fever and chikungunya
Water contact disease: leptospirosis
Animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 90.7%
Male: 92.3%
Female: 89.1% (2001 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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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 type: republic

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 divisions: 8 provinces; Central North Central North Eastern North Western Sabaragamuwa Southern Uva Western
Note: in October 2006 a Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruling voided a presidential directive merging the North and Eastern Provinces; many have defended the merger as a prerequisite for a negot

Dependent areas

Independence: 4 February 1948 (from the UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 4 February (1948)

Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978 certified 31 August 1978; amended 20 December 2000

Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law Roman-Dutch Kandyan and Jaffna Tamil law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA ; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; Ratnasiri WICKREMANAYAKE (since 21 November 2005) holds the largely ceremonial title of prime minister
Head of government: President Mahinda Percy RAJAPAKSA (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 on 17 November 2005 (next to be held in 2011)
Election results: Mahinda RAJAPAKSA elected president; percent of vote - Mahinda RAJAPAKSA 50.3% Ranil WICKREMESINGHE 48.4% other 1.3%

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of an open-list proportional representation system by electoral district to serve six-year terms)
Elections: last held on 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 United People's Freedom Alliance) 45.6% UNP 37.8% TNA 6.8% JHU 6% SLMC 2% UPF 0.5% EPDP 0.3% other 1%; seats by party - UNP 68 SLFP 57 JVP 39 TNA 22 CWC 8 JHU 7 SLMC 6 SLMC dissidents 4 Communist Party 2 JHU dissidents 2 LSSP 2 MEP 2 NUA 2 UPF 2 EPDP 1 UNP dissident 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 [G.PONNAMBALAM]; Ceylon Workers Congress or CWC [Arumugam THONDAMAN]; Communist Party or CP [D. GUNASEKERA]; Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRAN]; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP [Somawansa AMARASINGHE]; Lanka Sama Samaja Party or LSSP [Tissa VITHARANA]; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) or MEP [D. GUNAWARDENE]; National Heritage Party or JHU [Ellawala METHANANDA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDHARTHAN]; Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Mahinda RAJAPAKSA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO [Selvam ADAIKALANATHAN]; 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]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 2,148 Wyoming Avenue NW Washington DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 483-4,025 through 4,028
In the us fax: [1] (202) 232-7,181
In the us consulate general: Los Angeles
In the us consulate: New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Robert O. BLAKE Jr.
From the us embassy: 210 Galle Road Colombo 3
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 106 Colombo
From the us telephone: [94] (11) 249-8,500
From the us fax: [94] (11) 243-7,345

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: In 1977 Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for more market-oriented policies export-oriented trade and encouragement of foreign investment. Recent changes in government however have brought some policy reversals. Currently the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party has a more statist economic approach which seeks to reduce poverty by steering investment to disadvantaged areas developing small and medium enterprises promoting agriculture and expanding the already enormous civil service. The government has halted privatizations. Although suffering a brutal civil war that began in 1983 Sri Lanka saw GDP growth average 4.5% in the last 10 years with the exception of a recession in 2001. 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. Government spending on development and fighting the LTTE drove GDP growth to about 7% per year in 2006-07 before the global recession slow growth in 2008 but high government spending and high oil and commodity prices also raised inflation to around 15% in 2008. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing textiles and apparel food and beverages port construction telecommunications and insurance and banking. In 2008 plantation crops made up only about 20% of exports (compared with more than 90% in 1970) while textiles and garments accounted for more than 40%. About 1.5 million Sri Lankans work abroad 90% of them in the Middle East. They send home more than $2.5 billion a year. The 25-year civil conflict between LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka has been a serious impediment to economic activities. By mid February 2009 the LTTE remained in control of small and shrinking area in the North. The conflict continues to cast a shadow over the economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 68
Note: data are in 2008 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 62

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 150
Note: data are in 2008 US dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 13.4%
Industry: 29.4%
Services: 57.3% (2008 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 information technology services

Industrial production growth rate: 5.9% (2008 est.)
Rank: 41

Labor force: 7.569 million
Rank: 59
Note: excludes northern and eastern provinces (2008 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 34.7%
By occupation industry: 26.1%
By occupation services: 39.2% (30 September 2008 est.)

Unemployment rate: 6% (2007 est.)
Rank: 64

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 22% (2002 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.1%
Highest 10: 39.7% (2004)

Distribution of family income gini index: 34.4 (1995)
Rank: 28

Budget
Revenues: $7.8 billion
Expenditures: $11 billion (2009 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 104.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Rank: 13

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 15.8% (2007 est.)
Rank: 208

Central bank discount rate: 15% (31 December 2007)
Rank: 13

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 18.89% (31 December 2008)

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit: $14.82 billion (31 December 2007)
Rank: 65

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 76

Current account balance: -$1.464 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 153

Exports: $7.741 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 94
Commodities: textiles and apparel tea and spices; diamonds emeralds rubies; coconut products rubber manufactures fish
Partners: US 21.6% UK 11.9% India 6.8% Germany 5.1% Belgium 4.8% Italy 4.7% (2008)

Imports: $10.17 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 88
Commodities: textile fabrics mineral products petroleum foodstuffs machinery and transportation equipment
Partners: India 20.3% China 12.2% Iran 7.6% Singapore 7.4% South Korea 4.7% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3.644 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Rank: 99

Debt external: $12.2 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Rank: 76

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $250.2 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Rank: 19

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $NA

Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) per US dollar - 108.33 (2008) 110.78 (2007) 103.99 (2006) 100.498 (2005) 101.194 (2004)


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Electricity
Production: 9.507 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Production rank: 92
Consumption: 7.946 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption rank: 92
Exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Production rank: 199
Consumption: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 200
Exports: 0 m³ (2008)
Exports rank: 194
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2009 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 196

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 3.446 million (2008)
Main lines in use rank: 44
Mobile cellular: 11.082 million (2008)
Mobile cellular rank: 56

Telephone system
General assessment: telephone services have improved significantly and are available in most parts of the country
Domestic: national trunk network consists mostly of digital microwave radio relay; fiber-optic links now in use in Colombo area and fixed wireless local loops have been installed; competition is strong in mobile cellular systems and mobile cellular subscribership is increasing
International: country code - 94; the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cables provide connectivity to Asia Australia Middle East Europe US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .lk
Hosts: 6,090 (2009)
Hosts rank: 134
Users: 1.164 million (2008)
Users rank: 83

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 2.6% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 63

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; 5-year service obligation (2007)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 18 (2009)
Rank: 138
With paved runways total: 14
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 6
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7 (2009)
With unpaved runways total: 4
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 3 (2009)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 1449 km
Rank: 82
Broad gauge: 1449 km 1.676-m gauge (2007)

Roadways
Total: 97,286 km
Rank: 44
Paved: 78,802 km
Unpaved: 18,484 km (2003)

Waterways: 160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2008)
Rank: 101

Merchant marine
Total: 26
Rank: 89
By type: bulk carrier 4 cargo 18 chemical tanker 1 container 1 petroleum tanker 2
Foreign owned: 5 (Germany 5)
Registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Colombo


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Idps: 460,000 ) (2007)

Illicit drugs