Sri Lanka

.lk

6,090 (2009) country comparison to the world: 134

1.164 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 83

AM 15, FM 52, shortwave 4 (2007)

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)

3.446 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 44

11.082 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 56

14 (2006)

rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish

revenues: $7.8 billion expenditures: $11 billion (2009 est.)

15% (31 December 2008) country comparison to the world: 13 15% (31 December 2007)

18.89% (31 December 2008)

-$3.876 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 153 -$1.464 billion (2007 est.)

$16.78 billion (31 December 2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 76 $12.2 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

49 (2004) country comparison to the world: 28 34.4 (1995)

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.

7.946 billion kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 92

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

9.507 billion kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 92

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

$8.137 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 94 $7.741 billion (2007 est.)

textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish

US 21.6%, UK 11.9%, India 6.8%, Germany 5.1%, Belgium 4.8%, Italy 4.7% (2008)

$39.6 billion (2008 est.)

$92.09 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 68 $86.88 billion (2007 est.) $81.35 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars

agriculture: 13.4% industry: 29.4% services: 57.3% (2008 est.)

$4,400 (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 150 $4,200 (2007 est.) $3,900 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars

6% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 62 6.8% (2007 est.) 7.7% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%: 1.1% highest 10%: 39.7% (2004)

$12.61 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 88 $10.17 billion (2007 est.)

textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment

India 20.3%, China 12.2%, Iran 7.6%, Singapore 7.4%, South Korea 4.7% (2008)

5.9% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 41

processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining, information technology services

22.6% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 208 15.8% (2007 est.)

24.5% of GDP (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 54

7.569 million country comparison to the world: 59 note: excludes northern and eastern provinces (2008 est.)

agriculture: 34.7% industry: 26.1% services: 39.2% (30 September 2008 est.)

$4.326 billion (31 December 2008) country comparison to the world: 76 $7.553 billion (31 December 2007) $7.769 billion (31 December 2006)

0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 200

0 cu m (2008) country comparison to the world: 194

0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 199

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 196

89,000 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 80

968.4 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 121

87,690 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 68

0 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 200

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 198

22% (2002 est.)

76.7% of GDP (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 13 104.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

$2.655 billion (31 December 2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 99 $3.644 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

$NA

$250.2 billion (31 December 2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 19

$15.92 billion (30 September 2008) country comparison to the world: 65 $14.82 billion (31 December 2007)

$2.55 billion (30 September 2008) country comparison to the world: 65 $2.465 billion (31 December 2007)

$9.01 billion (30 September 2008) country comparison to the world: 54 $10.46 billion (31 December 2007)

5.2% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 64 6% (2007 est.)

total: 65,610 sq km country comparison to the world: 121 land: 64,630 sq km water: 980 sq km

slightly larger than West Virginia

tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)

1,340 km

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m

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

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

total: 12.61 cu km/yr (2%/2%/95%) per capita: 608 cu m/yr (2000)

7 00 N, 81 00 E

strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

7,430 sq km (2003)

0 km

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

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

Asia

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

occasional cyclones and tornadoes

limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower

mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior

50 cu km (1999)

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 negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict; a parliamentary decision on the issue is pending

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)

adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978; amended 20 December 2000

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

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

chief of mission: Ambassador Jaliya Chitran WICKRAMASURIYA 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

chief of state: President Mahinda Percy 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 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%

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

republic

4 February 1948 (from the UK)

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

Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president

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

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

Independence Day, 4 February (1948)

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]

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE [Velupillai PRABHAKARAN](insurgent group fighting for a separate state); Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) or Karuna Faction [Vinayagamurthi MURALITHARAN] (paramilitary breakaway from LTTE and fighting LTTE) other: Buddhist clergy; labor unions; radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups

18 years of age; universal

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.

males age 16-49: 5,458,720 females age 16-49: 5,594,006 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49: 4,498,667 females age 16-49: 4,693,895 (2009 est.)

male: 173,256 female: 167,645 (2009 est.)

Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Air Force (2009)

2.6% of GDP (2006) country comparison to the world: 63

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

0-14 years: 23.9% (male 2,594,815/female 2,493,002) 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.)

16.26 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 130

6.13 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 158

NA

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)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.) country comparison to the world: 164

fewer than 200 (2003 est.) country comparison to the world: 124

3,800 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 127

total: 18.57 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 111 male: 20.33 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

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

total population: 75.14 years country comparison to the world: 84 male: 73.08 years female: 77.28 years (2009 est.)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.7% male: 92.3% female: 89.1% (2001 census)

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)

total: 30.9 years male: 29.9 years female: 31.8 years (2009 est.)

noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan

-1.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 124

21,324,791 country comparison to the world: 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.)

0.904% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 134

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

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: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

1.99 children born/woman (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 131

urban population: 15% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

none

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)

current situation: Sri Lanka is a source and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; Sri Lankan men and women migrate willingly to the Persian Gulf, Middle East, and East Asia to work as construction workers, domestic servants, or garment factory workers, where some find themselves in situations of involuntary servitude when faced with restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and debt bondage; children are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and, less frequently, for forced labor tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, Sri Lanka is on the Tier 2 Watch List for failing to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of human trafficking, particularly in the area of law enforcement; the government failed to arrest, prosecute, or convict any person for trafficking offenses and continued to punish some victims of trafficking for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked; Sri Lanka has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

18 (2009) country comparison to the world: 138

total: 14 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2009)

total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2009)

total: 26 country comparison to the world: 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)

Colombo

total: 1,449 km country comparison to the world: 82 broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2007)

total: 97,286 km country comparison to the world: 44 paved: 78,802 km unpaved: 18,484 km (2003)

160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2008) country comparison to the world: 101