Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/223.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 11.1 KB | 386 lines

@node Geography (Sri Lanka)
@section Geography (Sri Lanka)

@display

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



@end display

@node People (Sri Lanka)
@section People (Sri Lanka)

@display

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.)



@end display

@node Government (Sri Lanka)
@section Government (Sri Lanka)

@display

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



@end display

@node Government (Sri Lanka 2. usage)
@section Government (Sri Lanka 2. usage)

@display

 Parliament:
  last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by NA 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
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGA (since 7 May 1993)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 7 May 1993)
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,
  IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL,
  WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Ananda GURUGE
 chancery:
  2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:   [phone] through 4028
 consulate general:
  New York
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Teresita C. SCHAFFER
 embassy:
  210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
 mailing address:
  P. O. Box 106, Colombo
 telephone:
  [94] (1) 44-80-07
 FAX:
  [94] (1) 43-73-45
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



@end display

@node Economy (Sri Lanka)
@section Economy (Sri Lanka)

@display

Overview:
  Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy, employing half of
  the labor force and accounting for one quarter of GDP. The plantation crops
  of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about one-third 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
  1991-92 as domestic conditions began to improve and conditions for foreign
  investment brightened.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $7.75 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  4.5% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $440 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  10% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
  15% (1991 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $2.0 billion; expenditures $3.7 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $500 million (1992)
Exports:
  $2.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  textiles and garments, teas, petroleum products, coconuts, rubber, other
  agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine products, graphite
 partners:
  US 27.4%, Germany, Japan, UK, Belgium, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China
Imports:
  $3.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
 commodities:   food and beverages, textiles and textile materials, petroleum and petroleum
  products, machinery and equipment
 partners:
  Japan, Iran, US 5.7%, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, UK
External debt:
  $5.7 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 7% (1991 est.); accounts for 20% of GDP
Electricity:
  1,300,000 kW capacity; 3,600 million kWh produced, 200 kWh per capita (1992)
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 (1980-89), $5.1 billion; OPEC
  bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $369
  million
Currency:
  1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
  Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1 - 46.342 (January 1993), 43.687 (1992),
  41.372 (1991), 40.063 (1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988)



@end display

@node Economy (Sri Lanka 2. usage)
@section Economy (Sri Lanka 2. usage)

@display

Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Sri Lanka)
@section Communications (Sri Lanka)

@display

Railroads:
  1,948 km total (1990); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no
  electrification; government owned
Highways:
  75,749 km total (1990); 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 oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)
Ports:
  Colombo, Trincomalee
Merchant marine:
  27 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 276,074 GRT/443,266 DWT; includes 12
  cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 3 container, 3 oil tanker, 3 bulk
Airports:
 total:
  14
 usable:
  13
 with permanent-surface runways:
  12
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  8
Telecommunications:
  very inadequate domestic service, good international service; 114,000
  telephones (1982); broadcast stations - 12 AM, 5 FM, 5 TV; submarine cables
  extend to Indonesia and Djibouti; 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Sri Lanka)
@section Defense Forces (Sri Lanka)

@display

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 4,779,221; fit for military service 3,730,737; reach
  military age (18) annually 178,032 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $365 million, 4.7% of GDP (1992)



@end display