Sri Lanka - The Country

The Democratic Socialist Republic of SRI LANKA (Formerly Ceylon)

Capital : Colombo
Area : 65, 610 Sq.Km (25, 332Sq. Miles)

Location & Physical Features
Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean South of the Indian subcontinent. The relief features of the island consist of a mountainous mass somewhat south of centre, with heights exceding 2500 Mts., surrounded by broad plains. Palm fringed beaches surround the island & the sea temperature rarely falls below 27 degrees Celsius.

Climate
Mainly tropical in the lowlands, the higher elevations however, can be quite cool (eg. 16 degrees in places like Nuwara - Eliya altitude 1890 Mts.). The southwest monsoon season lasts from mid - May to September, the north east monsoon season from November to March.

Vegetation & Wildlife
About 29% of the land is cultivated. About 26% is forest. Vegitation is rich and luxuriant, with a great variety of flowers, trees, creepers and flowering shrubs. Nature reserves now cover 10% of the island. Wilpattu National Park in the North - West (1, 085 sq. Km) is best known for Leopards; Yala National Park is in the south-east (1, 249sq. km) is home to aa large elephant population.

DEMOGRAPHY

	Population : 18, 315 million (growth rate - 1.3%)
	Composition : Sinhalese - 74%, SriLanka Tamils - 12.6% & Indian Tamils - 5.5%, Muslims - 7%, Others - 2%.
	Religion : Buddhism -70%, Hinduism - 15.5%, Islam - 7.5% and Christianity - 7%
	Language : Official Languages : Sinhalese and Tamil. English is used in Commerce and Government and is universally understood.
	Literacy Rate : 90%, one of the highest in Asia. Education is compulsory & free upto 14 years of age.
	Health : Both llopathic and Ayurvedic (Traditinal) medicines are practised. A free health service is available. there is one doctor per 5760 people.
	Employment : Estimated labour force: 6.2 million, of which nearly 90% are employed (40% agriculture, 14% manufacturing, 40% services).
	Communication : Several dailies in Sinhala, Tamil and English are published. There are8 television Channels and Five radio stations. The country also boasts of a well- developed telecommunication system.

TRANSPORT

	Road : About 25, 749 Km of roads, mostly tar-surfaced. There are both private and public bus services available.
	Rail : All the major towns are rail linked and new tracks are being laid to improve inland connectivity.
	Sea : There are three deep-water harbours in Colombo, Galle and Trincomallee. A new container terminal is being completed at Colombo, which is a major transhipment centre in South Asia.
	Air : Katunayake International Airport, recently named the Bandaranayake International Airport, is 32km (20miles) from Colombo. Another international airport is planned at Hingurakgoda. Air Lanka is the national carrier. The larger domestic airports are in Ratmalana (Colombo) and Jaffna in the North.

Government

Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has had multiparty democracy and several changes of Government. The People's Alliance led by H.E. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and a number of Minority parties forms the present Government.

	Last Elections : November 1994 (presidential);August 1994 (parlimentary)
	Next Elections : November 2000 (presidential); August 2000(parlimentary)
	Head of State : The President, H.E. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
	Head of Govt. : The President

ECONOMY

	Currency : Sri Lanka Rupee (SLR) valued at SLRs 69.00 to US$ 1 in March 1999.
	GNP : 174.3bil. SLR (1996)
	GNP per Capita : SLR 9575
	Composition : Agriculture :18%, Services : 51%, Manufacturing : 21%, Construction :7%
	Inflation : Inflation has fallen steadily during the 1990's, from 12% in 1991 to 8% in 1995.
	Investment : Foreign Direct Investment in 1996 was a healthy 4756 million SLR, & the Foreign Portfolio Investment stood at 353 mil.SLR. The former is mainly targeted at areas like infrastructure and tourism.
	Trade : Sri Lanka's main exports are textile and clothing, tea, diamonds (re-exported after cutting), petroleum products, gems and rubber products.Its main imports are textile (for the clothing industry), machinery and equipment, petroleum, building materials and sugar. It's main trading partners are India, Japan, USABritain, South Korea and Germany. Exports-1996: 279mil.SLR Imports 1996:356mil.SLR; Deficit : 77mil. SLR(11.6% of GDP).
	External Debt : External debt stands at US$8.0 bil. in 1995 (nearly 80% concessional)
	Overview : The Chief cash crops grown are tea, rubber and copra. While agriculture is central to Sri Lanka's economy, manufacturing and services are of increasing importance, with exports of the traditional agricultural exports of textile and clothing now well ahead of the traditional agricultural exports as foreign exchange earners. The servicves sector has been growing at n impressive pace, mainly in Banking and Insurance, followed closely by the Manufacturing (Apparel) sector.

Tourism has been an important foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka.