1.
[syn: Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Ceylon]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ceylon \Ceylon\ n.
the former name of an island republic in the Indian Ocean off
the southeast coast of India, now called Sri Lanka. It is
an independent nation with an area of 25,332 sq. mi. and a
population of about 14 million people.
Syn: Sri Lanka.
[WordNet 1.5]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Sri Lanka
n 1: a republic on the island of Ceylon; became independent of
the United Kingdom in 1948 [syn: Sri Lanka, Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Ceylon]
CIA World Factbook 2002:
Sri Lanka
Introduction Sri Lanka
----------------------
Background: Occupied by the Portuguese in the
16th century and the Dutch in the
17th century, the island was ceded
to the British in 1802. As Ceylon it
became independent in 1948; its name
was changed in 1972. Tensions
between the Sinhalese majority and
Tamil separatists erupted in
violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of
thousands have died in an ethnic war
that continues to fester.
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
water: 870 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 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
Land use: arable land: 13.43%
permanent crops: 15.78%
other: 70.79% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 6,510 sq km (1998 est.)
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 party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, 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: 19,576,783
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; as of mid-1999,
approximately 66,000 were housed in
133 refugee camps in south India,
another 40,000 lived outside the
Indian camps, and more than 200,000
Tamils have sought refuge in the
West (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.6% (male 2,559,246;
female 2,446,393)
15-64 years: 67.7% (male 6,446,320;
female 6,802,515)
65 years and over: 6.7% (male
628,398; female 693,911) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.85% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 16.36 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: -1.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/
female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/
female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 15.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.35 years
female: 75 years (2002 est.)
male: 69.83 years
Total fertility rate: 1.93 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 7,500 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 490 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan
Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%,
Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
Religions: Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian
8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
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: 90.2%
male: 93.4%
female: 87.2% (1995 est.)
Government Sri Lanka
--------------------
Country name: conventional long form: Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Serendib, Ceylon
Government type: republic
Capital: Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura
Kotte is the legislative capital
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces; Central, North Central,
North Eastern, North Western,
Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva,
Western; note - North Eastern
province may have been divided in
two - Northern and Eastern
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English
common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim,
Sinhalese, and customary law; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12
November 1994); note - Ranil
WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December
2001) is the prime minister; in Sri
Lanka the president is considered
both the chief of state and head of
government, in contrast to the more
common practice of dividing the
roles between the president and the
prime minister when both offices
exist
head of government: President
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA
(since 12 November 1994); note -
Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9
December 2001) is the prime
minister; in Sri Lanka the president
is considered both the chief of
state and head of government, in
contrast to the more common practice
of dividing the roles between the
president and the prime minister
when both offices exist
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the
president in consultation with the
prime minister
elections: president elected by
popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 21 December 1999
(next to be held NA December 2005)
election results: Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA reelected
president; percent of vote -
Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA
(PA) 51%, Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (UNP)
42%, other 7%
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (225 seats;
members elected by popular vote on
the basis of a modified proportional
representation system by district to
serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 7 December 2001
(next to be held NA December 2007)
election results: percent of vote by
party or electoral alliance - UNP,
SLMC and CWC 46.8%, PA and EPDP 38%,
JVP 9.1%, Tamil National Alliance
3.89%, PLOTE 0.19%; seats by party
or electoral alliance - UNP, SLMC
and CWC 114, PA and EPDP 79, JVP 16,
Tamil National Alliance 15, PLOTE 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
[KUMARGURUPARAM]; Ceylon Workers
Congress or CWC [Arumugam
THONDAMAN]; Communist Party or CP
[D. GUNASEKERA]; Democratic United
National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF
[Shrimani ATULATHMUDALI]; Eelam
People's Democratic Party or EPDP
[Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's
Revolutionary Liberation Front or
EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRAN];
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP
[Tilvan SILVA]; National Unity
Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF];
People's Alliance or PA [Chandrika
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's
Liberation Organization of Tamil
Eelam or PLOTE [leader NA]; Sihala
Urumaya or SU [Tilak KARUNARATNE];
Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP
[Chandrika Bandaranaike
KUMARATUNGA]; Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM]; Sri
Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF [P.
Nelson PERERA]; Tamil Eelam
Liberation Organization or TELO
[SABARATNAM]; Tamil National
Alliance or TNA [Nadarajah RAVIRAJ];
Tamil United Liberation Front or
TULF [R. SAMPATHAN]; United National
Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMASINGHE];
Upcountry People's Front or UPF [P.
CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic
Tamil and Muslim parties,
represented in either Parliament or
provincial councils
Political pressure groups and Buddhist clergy; labor unions;
leaders: 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
International organization AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-15,
participation: G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,
IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer),
OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Warnasena RASAPUTRAM
consulate(s): New York
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025
(through 4028)
chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador E.
US: Ashley WILLS
embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
mailing address: P. O. Box 106,
Colombo
telephone: [94] (1) 448007
FAX: [94] (1) 437345
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
market-oriented policies and export-
oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most
dynamic sectors 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 average annual
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 1997-2000 with average growth of
5.3%. But 2001 saw the first
contraction in the country's
history, due to a combination of
power shortages, severe budgetary
problems, the global slowdown, and
continuing civil strife.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $62.7
billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -1% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,250
(2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 21%
industry: 27%
services: 52% (2000)
Population below poverty line: 22% (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: 3.5%
percentage share: highest 10%: 28% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini 34.4 (1995)
index:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.2% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 6.6 million (1998)
Labor force - by occupation: services 45%, agriculture 38%,
industry 17% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: 7.7% (2001)
Budget: revenues: $2.8 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion,
including capital expenditures of
$NA (2001 est.)
Industries: rubber processing, tea, coconuts,
and other agricultural commodities;
clothing, cement, petroleum
refining, textiles, tobacco
Industrial production growth rate: 1.4% (2001)
Electricity - production: 6.619 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 31.86%
hydro: 68.14%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 6.156 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses,
oilseed, spices, tea, rubber,
coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
Exports: $4.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: textiles and apparel 15%, tea,
diamonds, coconut products,
petroleum products
Exports - partners: US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%,
Germany 4%, Japan 4% (2000)
Imports: $6 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, textiles,
petroleum, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: Japan 9%, India 8%, Hong Kong 7%,
Singapore 7%, South Korea 5% (2000)
Debt - external: $9.9 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: $577 million (1998)
Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Currency code: LKR
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar -
93.383 (January 2002), 89.383
(2001), 77.005 (2000), 70.635
(1999), 64.450 (1998), 58.995 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Sri Lanka
------------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 494,509 (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 228,604 (1999)
Telephone system: general assessment: very inadequate
domestic service, particularly in
rural areas; likely improvement with
privatization of national telephone
company and encouragement to private
investment; good international
service (1999)
domestic: national trunk network
consists mostly of digital microwave
radio relay; fiber-optic links now
in use in Colombo area and two fixed
wireless local loops have been
installed; competition is strong in
mobile cellular systems; telephone
density remains low at 2.6 main
lines per 100 persons (1999)
international: submarine cables to
Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite
earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian
Ocean) (1999)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 3.85 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 21 (1997)
Televisions: 1.53 million (1997)
Internet country code: .lk
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2000)
Internet users: 121,500 (2001)
Transportation Sri Lanka
------------------------
Railways: total: 1,463 km
broad gauge: 1,404 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge
(2001)
Highways: total: 11,285 km
paved: 10,721 km
unpaved: 564 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 430 km (navigable by shallow-draft
craft)
Pipelines: crude oil and petroleum products 62
km (1987)
Ports and harbors: Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
Merchant marine: total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 137,321 GRT/233,367 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 15,
container 1, petroleum tanker 1,
includes some foreign-owned ships
registered here as a flag of
convenience: Germany 9, Hong Kong 1,
United Arab Emirates 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 15 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2001)
Military Sri Lanka
------------------
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 5,347,153 (2002
est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 4,148,825 (2002
service: est.)
Military manpower - reaching military males: 193,522 (2002 est.)
age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar $719 million (FY98)
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of 4.2% (FY98)
GDP:
Transnational Issues Sri Lanka
------------------------------
Disputes - international: none