Sri Lanka

republicIndependence 4 February 1948 (from UK

Sri Lanka as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 72 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalColombo

Area65,610 km2

Populationas each edition published it

17.2 million July 1990 · 22.05m in 2025

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 1.11% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 28.7 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 71.51 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

2.3 children per woman 1990 · 2.12 in 2025

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

31 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 6.8 in 2025

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $440 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition 4.5% in 1993

Geography

14 fields

Land useshare of 65,610 km2

arable land 16%permanent crops 17%meadows and pastures 7%forest and woodland 37%other 23%includes 8% irrigated

Total area

65,610km2

land area: 64,740 km2Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Coastline

1,340km

land boundaries: noneTerritorial 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

Environment

occasional cyclones, tornados;
deforestation;
soil erosion

Note

only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

People

14 fields

Population

17,196,436

(July 1990), growth rate 1.5% (1990)

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth

21Death

Ethnic divisions

Sinhalese 74%Tamil 18%Moor 7%Burgher 1%Malay; and Veddha

Religion

Buddhist 69%Hindu 15%Christian 8%Muslim 8%

Literacy

87%

Nationality

noun--Sri Lankan(s); adjective--Sri Lankan

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

Labor force

6,600,000; 45.9% agriculture, 13.3% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 28.4% services and other (1985 est.)

Organized labor

about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which are employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates

Government

Republic

16 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

50%

Ranasinghe Premadasa (UNP) 50%Sirimavo Bandaranaike (SLFP) 45%others 5%19 December 1988 (next to be held December 1994)

Parliament, 225 seats, elected 15 February 1989one dot, one seat

UNP 125SLFP 67others 33

Long-form name

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Administrative divisions

24 districts;
Amparai, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla, Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala, Mullativu, 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)

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)

Supreme Court Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since 6 March 1989) United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe Premadasa; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo Bandaranaike; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Mhm.

Ashraff; All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar Ponnambalam; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP, or People's United Front), Dinesh Gundawardene; Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka People's Party), Chandrika Baudaranaike Kumaranatunga; Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP, Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite), Colin R. de Silva;

Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP, or New Socialist Party), Vasudeva Nanayakkara; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader NA; Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. Silva; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. Shanmugathasan

Suffrage

universal at age 18 President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held December 1994);
results--Ranasinghe Premadasa (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo Bandaranaike (SLFP) 45%, others 5%;
Parliament--last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by February 1995);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, others 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

ADB, ANRPC, CCC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, 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;
Embassy at 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 (mailing address is P. O. Box 106, Colombo);
telephone [94] (1) 548007

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

16 fields

GDP, purchasing power parity

$6.1billion

per capita $370; real growth rate 2.7% (1988)

Inflation, consumer prices

15%

(1988)

Unemployment rate

20%

(1988 est.)

External debt

$5.6billion

(1989)

Budget

Revenues

$1.5 billionExpenditures

$2.3 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $0.7 billion (1989)

Overview

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy, employing about half of the labor force and accounting for about 25% of GDP. The plantation crops of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about 50% of export earnings and almost 20% of budgetary revenues. The economy has been plagued by high rates of unemployment since the late 1970s.

Exports

$1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--tea, textiles and garments, petroleum products, coconut, rubber, agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine products;
partners--US 26%, Egypt, Iraq, UK, FRG, Singapore, Japan

Imports

$2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, textiles and textile materials, wheat, transportation equipment, electrical machinery, sugar, rice;
partners--Japan, Saudi Arabia, US 5.6%, India, Singapore, FRG, UK, Iran

Industrial production

growth rate 5% (1988)

Electricity

1,300,000 kW capacity; 4,200 million kWh produced, 250 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries

processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco, clothing

Agriculture

accounts for 25% 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

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $932 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-87), $4.3 billion;
OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million;
Communist countries (1970-88), $369 million

Currency

Sri Lankan rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Exchange rates

Sri Lankan rupees (SLRs) per US$1--40.000 (January 1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988), 29.445 (1987), 28.017 (1986), 27.163 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 40 ships by typeone square, one ship

cargo 22refrigerated cargo 8container 4livestock carrier 1petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 2bulk 340 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 258,923 GRT/334,702 DWT

Airports, 14 total, 13 usable

permanent-surface runways

12runways over 3,659 m

nonerunways 2,440-3,659 m

1runways 1,220-2,439 m

Networkskm

Highways

66,176Railroads

1,868Inland waterways

430

Highways: (1985); 24,300 km paved (mostly bituminous treated), 28,916 km crushed stone or gravel, 12,960 km improved earth or unimproved earth; several thousand km of mostly unmotorable tracks · Railroads: (1985); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned · Inland waterways: ; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Railroads

1,868 km total (1985);
all 1.868-meter broad gauge;
102 km double track;
no electrification;
government owned

Highways

66,176 km total (1985);
24,300 km paved (mostly bituminous treated), 28,916 km crushed stone or gravel, 12,960 km improved earth or unimproved earth;
several thousand km of mostly unmotorable tracks

good international service;
109,900 telephones (1982);
stations--12 AM, 5 FM, 1 TV;
submarine cables extend to Indonesia, Djibouti, India;
2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

Defense Forces

Army, Air Force, Navy, Police Force, Special Police Task Force, National Auxiliary Force

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49

4,568,648fit for military service

3,574,637reach military age (18) annually

177,610

Defense expenditures

5%of GDP

or $300 million (1989 est.)

Branches