*Spratly Islands, Communications
Ports:
no natural harbors
Airports:
total:
4
usable:
4 with permanent-surfaced runways:
1
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
0
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
0
*Spratly Islands, Defense Forces
Note:
about 50 small islands or reefs are occupied by China, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam
*Sri Lanka, Geography
Location:
South Asia, 29 km southeast of India across the Palk Strait in the Indian
Ocean
Map references:
Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
65,610 km2
land area:
64,740 km2
comparative area:
slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
1,340 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or the edge of continental margin
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
none
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
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%
Irrigated land:
5,600 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil erosion
Note:
strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
*Sri Lanka, People
Population:
17,838,190 (July 1993 est.)
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 late 1992, nearly 115,000 were housed in refugee
camps in south India, another 95,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and
more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West; fewer
than 10,000 Tamils have been successfully repatriated to Sri Lanka
Population growth rate:
1.11% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
18.71 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
5.84 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
22.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
71.51 years
male:
68.94 years
female:
74.21 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.13 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Sri Lankan(s)
adjective:
Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions:
Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
Religions:
Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%
Languages:
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%
note:
English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the
population
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
88%
male:
93%
female:
84%
Labor force:
6.6 million
by occupation:
agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and transport
12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)
*Sri Lanka, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form:
Sri Lanka
former:
Ceylon
Digraph:
CE
Type:
republic
Capital:
Colombo
Administrative divisions:
8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western,
Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western
Independence:
4 February 1948 (from UK)
Constitution:
31 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
National holiday:
Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)
Political parties and leaders:
United National Party (UNP), Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA; 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 NA; 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), Ossie ABEYGUNASEKERA; Communist Party,
K. P. SILVA; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. SHANMUGATHASAN; Democratic
United National Front (DUNF), Lalith ATHULATHMUDALI and Gamini DISSANAYAKE
note:
the United Socialist Alliance (USA) includes the NSSP, LSSP, SLMP, CP/M, and
CP/B
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 and
several other radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups); Buddhist clergy;
Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Elections:
President:
last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1994); results -
Ranasinghe PREMADASA (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE (SLFP) 45%, other 5%;
note - following the assassination of President PREMADASA on 1 May 1993,
Prime Minister WIJETUNGA became acting president; on 7 May 1993, he was
confirmed by a vote of Parliament to finish out the term of the assassinated
president