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 January 2008, the government
officially withdrew from the ceasefire, and has begun engaging the LTTE in
the northern portion of the country.
Geography
Sri Lanka
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 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km
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
total: 12.61 cu km/yr
(2%/2%/95%) per capita: 608 cu m/yr (2000)
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
People
Sri Lanka
Population:
21,128,773 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 2008 est.)
total: 30.4 years
male: 29.5 years female: 31.4 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.943% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
16.63 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
6.07 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.12 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88
male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 19.01
deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.97
years male: 72.95 years female: 77.08 years (2008
est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.02 children born/woman (2008
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.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne disease: dengue fever and malaria water
contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
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: 90.7%
male: 92.3% female: 89.1% (2001 census)
Government
Sri Lanka
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, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court
ruled voided a presidential directive merging the North and Eastern
Provinces; many have defended the merger as a prerequisite for a
negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict; a parliamentary decision on
the issue is pending
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, Kandyan, and Jaffna Tamil law; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Mahinda RAJAPAKSA (since 19 November 2005); 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
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 formal UPFA 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]
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; Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal
(TMVP) or Karuna Faction [Vinayagamurthi MURALITHARAN] (paramilitary
breakaway from LTTE and fighting LTTE)
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 Robert O. BLAKE, Jr. embassy: 210 Galle Road,
Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo
telephone: [94] (11) 249-8500 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
Economy
Sri Lanka
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 and reconstruction
drove growth to more than 7% in 2006 but reduced agriculture output
probably slowed growth to about 6 percent in 2007. Government spending and
loose monetary policy drove inflation to nearly 16% in 2007. Sri Lanka's
most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food
and beverages, port construction, telecommunications, and insurance and
banking. In 2006, plantation crops made up only about 15% of exports
(compared with more than 90% in 1970), while textiles and garments
accounted for more than 60%. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% of
them in the Middle East. They send home more than $1 billion a year. The
struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for an independent
homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy.
textiles and apparel, tea and
spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures,
fish
Exports - partners:
US 27.6%, UK 11.3%, India 9.3%,
Belgium 4.7%, Germany 4.3% (2006)
Imports:
$10.68 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.)
Imports - commodities:
textile fabrics, mineral
products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment
Imports - partners:
India 19.5%, China 10.4%,
Singapore 8.7%, Iran 5.6%, Malaysia 5%, Hong Kong 4.2%, Japan 4% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$1.189 billion (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$3.252 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$13.52 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$7.769 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Currency code:
LKR
Exchange rates:
Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar
- 110.78 (2007), 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004), 96.521
(2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Sri Lanka
Telephones - main lines in use:
2.742 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
7.983 million (2007)
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 2 fixed wireless local loops have been installed;
competition is strong in mobile cellular systems and mobile cellular
subscribership is increasing; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular
teledensity is about 50 per 100 persons 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)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 15, FM 52, shortwave 4
(2007)
Radios:
3.85 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
14 (2006)
Televisions:
1.53 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.lk
Internet hosts:
6,198 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
5 (2000)
Internet users:
428,000 (2006)
Transportation
Sri Lanka
Airports:
18 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 14 over
3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 7
(2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 4 914 to
1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2007)
Railways:
total: 1,449 km
broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 97,287 km
paved: 78,802 km unpaved: 18,485 km (2003)
Waterways:
160 km (primarily on rivers in
southwest) (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 24 ships (1000
GRT or over) 162,280 GRT/227,478 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2,
cargo 18, container 2, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 6
(Germany 6) registered in other countries: 3 (Panama 3) (2007)
Ports and terminals:
Colombo
Military
Sri Lanka
Military branches:
Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy,
Sri Lanka Air Force (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary
military service (2007)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49:
5,458,720 females age 16-49: 5,594,006 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49:
4,477,437 females age 16-49: 4,683,716 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 16-49: 174,065
females age 16-49: 168,593 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.6% (2006)
Transnational Issues
Sri Lanka
Disputes - international:
none
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 460,000 (both
Tamils and non-Tamils displaced due to long-term civil war between the
government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE))
(2007)
