SRI LANKA                                                                       
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 65,610 km2; land area: 64,740 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia                            
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 1,340 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;                                                         
                                                                                
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;                        
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; 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%; includes irrigated 8%          
                                                                                
Environment: occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil                 
erosion                                                                         
                                                                                
Note: only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major                  
Indian Ocean sea lanes                                                          
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 17,423,736 (July 1991), growth rate 1.2% (1991)                     
                                                                                
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                        
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 21 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Sri Lankan(s); adjective--Sri Lankan                         
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Sinhalese 74%; Tamil 18%; Moor 7%; Burgher,                   
Malay, and Veddha 1%                                                            
                                                                                
Religion: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%                      
                                                                                
Language: Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national              
languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by           
about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of       
the population                                                                  
                                                                                
Literacy: 86% (male 91%, female 81%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1981)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 6,600,000; agriculture 45.9%, mining and                           
manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4%        
(1985 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Organized labor: about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which are                
employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates                                    
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka                      
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Colombo                                                                
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Amparai, Anuradhapura,                  
Badulla, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna,               
Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla, Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala,       
Mullaittivu, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee,       
Vavuniya; note--the administrative structure may now include 8 provinces        
(Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa,            
Southern, Uva, and Western) and 25 districts (with Kilinochchi added to         
the existing districts)                                                         
                                                                                
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK; formerly Ceylon)                        
                                                                                
Constitution: 31 August 1978                                                    
                                                                                
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law,                   
Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ         
jurisdiction                                                                    
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)              
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament                                       
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January                 
1989);                                                                          
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since               
6 March 1989)                                                                   
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe PREMADASA;                              
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 (vacant);                          
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),                   
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARANATUNGA;                                           
Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. SILVA;                                     
Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN;                              
note--the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP,              
SLMP, CP/M, and CP/B                                                            
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held                          
December 1994);                                                                 
results--Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%,                                        
Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%;                                     
                                                                                
Parliament--last held 15 February 1989                                          
(next to be held by 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                                   
                                                                                
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); 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, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD,          
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                              
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. Susanta De ALWIS; Chancery             
at 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4025        
through 4028; there is a Sri Lankan Consulate in New York;                      
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Marion V. CREEKMORE, Jr.; Embassy at 210 Galle Road,             
Colombo 3 (mailing address is P. O. Box 106, Colombo); telephone  94  (1)       
448007                                                                          
                                                                                
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: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy,              
employing about 45% of the labor force and accounting for 26% of                
GDP. The plantation crops of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about 35%        
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 1990 as domestic conditions          
began to improve.                                                               
                                                                                
GDP: $6.6 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 4.5% (1990                 
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 23% (1990)                                    
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 20% (1990 est.)                                              
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $1.7 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of $0.5 billion (1990)                           
                                                                                
Exports: $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--tea, textiles and garments, petroleum products,                    
coconut, rubber, agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine                
products;                                                                       
                                                                                
partners--US 26%, FRG, Japan, UK, Belgium, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China             
                                                                                
Imports: $2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--food and beverages, textiles and textile materials,                
petroleum, machinery and equipment;                                             
                                                                                
partners--Japan, Saudi Arabia, US 5.6%, India, Singapore, FRG, UK,              
Iran                                                                            
                                                                                
External debt: $5.6 billion (1989)                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 6% (1989 est.); accounts for                 
18% of GDP                                                                      
                                                                                
Electricity: 1,300,000 kW capacity; 4,200 million kWh produced,                 
240 kWh per capita (1990)                                                       
                                                                                
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          
(1980-88), $4.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million;            
Communist countries (1970-89), $369 million                                     
                                                                                
Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (plural--rupees);                                    
1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents                                           
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRs) per US$1--40.272 (January              
1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988), 29.445 (1987), 28.017       
(1986), 27.163 (1985)                                                           
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 1,948 km total (1989); all 1.868-meter broad gauge;                  
102 km double track; no electrification; government owned                       
                                                                                
Highways: 75,263 km total (1988); 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 and refined products, 62 km (1987)                             
                                                                                
Ports: Colombo, Trincomalee                                                     
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 364,466                  
GRT/551,686 DWT; includes 18 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 5 container,          
2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk                          
                                                                                
Civil air: 8 major transport (including 1 leased)                               
                                                                                
Airports: 14 total, 13 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways;               
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;                   
7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                    
                                                                                
Telecommunications: good international service; 114,000 telephones              
(1982); 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 15-49, 4,636,767; 3,625,289 fit for                
military service; 178,010 reach military age (18) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $300 million, 5% of GDP (1991)                            
                                                                                
