|
|
|
General Details |
|
| President |
Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA |
| Prime
Minister |
Rani
Wickremesinghe |
| Capital |
Colombo |
| Area |
total:
65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km
water: 870 sq km |
| Location |
Southern
Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India |
| Coastline: |
1,340
km |
| Maritime
claims |
Contiguous
zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm |
| Climate |
Tropical
monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March);
southwest monsoon (June to October) |
| Natural
Resources |
Limestone,
graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay |
| Irrigated
land |
5,500
sq km (Approx.) |
| Natural
hazards |
Occasional
cyclones and tornadoes |
| Environment-international
agreements |
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
| Population |
19,144,875
(Approx.) |
| Population
growth rate |
1.1%
(Approx.) |
| Age
structure |
0-14
years: 27% (male 2,650,135; female 2,535,092)
15-64 years: 67% (male 6,231,987; female
6,500,782)
65 years and over: 6% (male 592,539; female
634,340) (Approx.) |
| Birth
rate |
18.16
births/1,000 population (Approx.) |
| Death
rate |
6.02
deaths/1,000 population (Approx.) |
|
| Net
migration rate |
1.13
migrant(s)/1,000 population (1Approx.) |
| Sex
ratio |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (Approx.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth |
total
population: 72.67 years
male: 69.89 years
female: 75.59 years (Approx.) |
| Religions |
Buddhist
69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8% |
| Legislative
Body |
Unicameral
Parliament |
| Languages |
Sinhala
(official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national
language) 18% |
| Literacy |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.2%
male: 93.4%
female: 87.2% (Approx.) |
| Currency |
1
Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents
 |
| Legal
System |
A
highly complex mixture of English common law,
Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Economy
Overview |
In
1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and
its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented
policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most
dynamic industries now are food processing, textiles and
apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and
insurance and banking. By 1996 plantation crops made up
only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while
textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an
annual average rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a
drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered
growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-98
with growth of 6.4% and 4.7%. For the next round of
reforms, the central bank of Sri Lanka recommends that
Colombo expand market mechanisms in nonplantation
agriculture, dismantle the government's monopoly on
wheat imports, and promote more competition in the
financial sector. A continuing cloud over the economy is
the fighting between the Sinhalese and the minority
Tamils, which has cost 50,000 lives in the past 15
years. The global slowdown will temper growth in 1999. |
| GDP:
Purchasing Power Parity |
$48.1
billion (1998 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate |
4.7%
(1998 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita |
$2,500
(1998 est.) |
| GDP
- Composition by sector |
agriculture:
18%
industry: 31%
services: 51% (1997) |
| Population
below poverty line |
35.3%
(Approx.) |
| Household
income |
lowest
10%: 3.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices) |
9.3%
(Approx.) |
| Industries |
Processing
of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural
commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining,
textiles, tobacco |
| Industrial
production growth rate |
6.5%
(Approx.) |
| Agriculture-
products |
Rice,
sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber,
coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef |
| Exports |
$4.5
billion (f.o.b., 1998) |
| Exports-commodities |
Textiles
and apparel, tea, diamonds and other gems, coconut
products, rubber products, petroleum products (1997) |
| Exports-partners |
US
36%, UK 11%, Japan 6%, Germany 5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 4%
(1997) |
| Imports |
$5.3
billion (f.o.b., 1998) |
| Imports-commodities |
Machinery
and equipment, textiles, petroleum, building materials,
sugar (1997) |
| Imports-partners |
India
10%, Japan 9%, South Korea 8%, Hong Kong 7%, Taiwan 7%
(1997) |
| Communication |
|
| Telephones |
352,681
(1997 est.); 114,888 cellular telephone subscribers
(Approx.) |
| Telephone
system |
Very
inadequate domestic service, but expanding with the
entry of two wireless loop operators and privatization
of national telephone company; good international
service
domestic: NA international: submarine cables to
Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations-2
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
| Transportation |
|
| Railways |
total:
1,501 km
broad gauge: 1,442 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (Approx.) |
| Highways |
total:
99,200 km
paved: 39,680 km
unpaved: 59,520 km (Approx.) |
| Waterways |
430
km; navigable by shallow-draft craft |
| Pipelines |
Crude
oil and petroleum products 62 km (Approx.) |
| Ports
and harbors |
Colombo,
Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee |
| Tax
Structure |
Tax
Structure |
| International
Membership |
AsDB,
C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO |
|
|
|
|
|
|
General Section
