Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003) - Sri Lanka (2005)

Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003) z Sri Lanka (2005)

	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003)	Sri Lanka (2005)

Administrative divisions	6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick	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
Age structure	0-14 years: 28.2% (male 16,755; female 16,163) 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 39,308; female 37,149) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,215; female 4,222) (2003 est.)	0-14 years: 24.5% (male 2,508,384/female 2,397,986) 15-64 years: 68.4% (male 6,658,765/female 7,059,468) 65 years and over: 7.2% (male 670,813/female 769,360) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish	rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
Airports	6 (2002)	14 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2002)	total: 13 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)	total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km) land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 65,610 sq km land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km
Area - comparative	twice the size of Washington, DC	slightly larger than West Virginia
Background	Disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, Saint Vincent was ceded to the latter in 1783. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.	The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa A.D. 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam formalized a cease-fire in February 2002, with Norway brokering peace negotiations.
Birth rate	17.16 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)	15.63 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $94.6 million expenditures: $85.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)	revenues: $3.34 billion expenditures: $4.686 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital	Kingstown	Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Climate	tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)	tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
Coastline	84 km	1,340 km
Constitution	27 October 1979	adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978; new constitution proposed in 2002
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon
Currency	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)	-
Death rate	6.08 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)	6.49 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$167.2 million (2000)	$10.85 billion (2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffrey J. LUNSTEAD embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (11) 244-8007 FAX: [94] (11) 243-7345
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6736 consulate(s) general: New York	chief of mission: Ambassador Bernard GOONETILLEKE chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028) FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles consulate(s): New York
Disputes - international	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea	none
Economic aid - recipient	$47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998)	$577 million (1998)
Economy - overview	Bananas and other agricultural products remain the staple of this lower-middle income country's economy. Although tourism and other services have been growing moderately in recent years, the government has been ineffective at introducing new industries. Unemployment remains high, and economic growth hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector, but its restrictive secrecy laws have come under international review. As of June 2001, it remained on the Financial Action Task Force's list of noncooperative jurisdictions. Saint Vincent is also the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean and is increasingly being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.	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. In 2003, plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in the early 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, -1.4%, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Growth recovered to 4.0% in 2002 and to 5.2% in both 2003 and 2004. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took about 31,000 lives, left more than 6,300 missing and 443,000 displaced, and destroyed an estimated $1.5 billion worth of property.
Electricity - consumption	86 million kWh (2001)	6.228 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2001)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2001)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	92.48 million kWh (2001)	6.697 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: 69.3% hydro: 30.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Soufriere 1,234 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m
Environment - current issues	pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive	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 agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Ethnic groups	black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7%	Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Exchange rates	East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999), 2.7 (1998)	Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 101.194 (2004), 96.521 (2003), 95.662 (2002), 89.383 (2001), 77.005 (2000)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister	chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since 6 April 2004) is the prime minister; the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Mahinda RAJAPAKSE is the prime minister (since 6 April 2004); the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government 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 51%, Ranil WICKREMASINGHE 42%, other 7%
Exports	NA (2001)	NA
Exports - commodities	bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets	textiles and apparel; tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products; rubber manufactures, fish
Exports - partners	France 25.2%, Greece 19.1%, Spain 16.4%, UK 9.5%, US 7.1% (2002)	US 32.4%, UK 13.5%, India 6.8%, Germany 4.8% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern	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
GDP	purchasing power parity - $339 million (2002 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 10% industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 19.1% industry: 26.2% services: 54.7% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.)	purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-0.5% (2002 est.)	5.2% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	13 15 N, 61 12 W	7 00 N, 81 00 E
Geography - note	the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is comprised of 32 islands and cays	strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
Highways	total: 1,040 km paved: 320 km unpaved: 720 km (1999 est.)	total: 11,650 km paved: 11,068 km unpaved: 582 km (2002)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 3.5% highest 10%: 28% (1995)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation	-
Imports	NA (2001)	NA
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels	textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment
Imports - partners	France 32.7%, US 11.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.4%, Singapore 10.1%, Spain 7.9%, Greece 4.3% (2002)	India 18%, Singapore 8.7%, Hong Kong 7.7%, China 5.7%, Iran 5.2%, Japan 5.1%, Malaysia 4.1% (2004)
Independence	27 October 1979 (from UK)	4 February 1948 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate	-0.9% (1997 est.)	7.1% (2004 est.)
Industries	food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch	rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, and banking; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
Infant mortality rate	total: 15.7 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)	total: 14.35 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-0.4% (2001 est.)	5.8% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTrO	AsDB, C, CP, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	15 (2000)	-
Irrigated land	10 sq km (1998 est.)	6,510 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)	Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president
Labor force	67,000 (1984 est.)	7.26 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.)	agriculture 38%, industry 17%, services 45% (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 10.26% permanent crops: 17.95% other: 71.79% (1998 est.)	arable land: 13.86% permanent crops: 15.7% other: 70.44% (2001)
Languages	English, French patois	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
Legal system	based on English common law	a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 28 March 2001 (next to be held by March 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3	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 2 April 2004 (next to be held by 2010) election results: percent of vote by party or electoral alliance - SLFP and JVP 45.6%, UNP 37.83%, TNA 6.84%, JHU 5.97%, SLMC 2.02%, UPF 0.54%, EPDP 0.27%, others 0.93%; seats by party or electoral alliance - SLFP and JVP 105, UNP 82, TNA 22, JHU 9, SLMC 5, UPF 1, EPDP 1
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.08 years male: 71.3 years female: 74.92 years (2003 est.)	total population: 73.17 years male: 70.6 years female: 75.86 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.3% male: 94.8% female: 90% (2003 est.)
Location	Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago	Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Asia
Maritime claims	contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Merchant marine	total: 769 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,365,887 GRT/9,665,937 DWT ships by type: bulk 133, cargo 376, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 7, container 58, liquefied gas 8, livestock carrier 4, multi-functional large-load carrier 2, passenger 5, petroleum tanker 43, refrigerated cargo 46, roll on/roll off 45, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Albania 1, Anguilla 1, Argentina 1, Australia 2, The Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Barbados 2, Belgium 4, Bulgaria 14, Canada 1, Cayman Islands 1, China 135, Colombia 1, Croatia 12, Cyprus 6, Denmark 16, Egypt 7, Estonia 6, France 27, Germany 12, Greece 156, Guyana 7, Hong Kong 23, Iceland 1, India 11, Indonesia 3, Israel 2, Italy 19, Japan 1, Kenya 4, Latvia 5, Lebanon 9, Liberia 5, Lithuania 1, Malta 1, Man, Isle of 1, Marshall Islands 3, Mexico 1, Monaco 6, Netherlands 14, Netherlands Antilles 1, Nigeria 3, Norway 33, Pakistan 5, Panama 2, Poland 2, Portugal 2, Puerto Rico 2, Russia 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saudi Arabia 3, Singapore 4, Slovenia 7, South Korea 4, Spain 1, Sweden 6, Switzerland 10, Syria 2, Taiwan 1, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 15, Ukraine 8, UAE 45, UK 16, US 25, Vietnam 1 (2002 est.)	total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 120,924 GRT/173,604 DWT by type: cargo 18, container 2, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 10 (Germany 10) registered in other countries: 1 (2005)
Military branches	Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard	Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$NA	$514.8 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA%	2.6% (2004)
National holiday	Independence Day, 27 October (1979)	Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Nationality	noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s) adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian	noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan
Natural hazards	hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat	occasional cyclones and tornadoes
Natural resources	hydropower, cropland	limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower
Net migration rate	-7.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)	-1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Political parties and leaders	National Reform Party or NRP [Joel MIGUEL]; New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Ken BOYEA]; Progressive Labor Party or PLP [leader NA]; United People's Movement or UPM [Adrian SAUNDERS]; Unity Labor Party or ULP [Ralph GONSALVES] (formed by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU)	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 Perumuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA]; National Heritage Party or JHU [Tilak KARUNARATNE]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [leader NA]; Sihala Urumaya or SU [leader NA]; 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 [R. SAMPANTHAN]; Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF [V. ANANDASANGAREE]; United National Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMASINGHE]; Up-country People's Front or UPF [P. CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in either Parliament or provincial councils
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	Buddhist clergy; labor unions; 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
Population	116,812 (July 2003 est.)	20,064,776 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 and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	22% (1997 est.)
Population growth rate	0.34% (2003 est.)	0.79% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Kingstown	Colombo, Galle
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998)
Railways	0 km	total: 1,449 km broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2004)
Religions	Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant	Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: adequate system domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines international: VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; new SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and to Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia	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: country code - 94; submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999)
Telephones - main lines in use	20,500 (1998)	881,400 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	NA	931,600 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	1 (plus three repeaters) (1997)	21 (1997)
Terrain	volcanic, mountainous	mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Total fertility rate	1.95 children born/woman (2003 est.)	1.85 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	22% (1997 est.)	7.8% (2004 est.)
Waterways	none	160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2004)

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