Sri Lanka (2001) | Portugal (2005) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 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 | 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
25.99% (male 2,578,618; female 2,464,928) 15-64 years: 67.39% (male 6,369,881; female 6,708,852) 65 years and over: 6.62% (male 615,253; female 671,103) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.6% (male 916,234/female 839,935)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 3,468,844/female 3,538,779) 65 years and over: 17.1% (male 744,787/female 1,057,633) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef | grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products |
Airports | 14 (2000 est.) | 65 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
12 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2000 est.) |
total: 42
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
65,610 sq km land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km |
total: 92,391 sq km
land: 91,951 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than West Virginia | slightly smaller than Indiana |
Background | Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1802. As Ceylon it became independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester. | Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. |
Birth rate | 16.58 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.82 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$3 billion expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $74.38 billion
expenditures: $79.86 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital | Lisbon |
Climate | tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October) | maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south |
Coastline | 1,340 km | 1,793 km |
Constitution | adopted 16 August 1978 | 25 April 1976; revised many times |
Country name | conventional long form:
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon |
conventional long form: Portuguese Republic
conventional short form: Portugal local long form: Republica Portuguesa local short form: Portugal |
Currency | Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) | - |
Death rate | 6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.9 billion (2000) | $274.7 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador E. Ashley WILLS embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (1) 448007 FAX: [94] (1) 437345 |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Adrienne S. O'NEAL
embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisbon mailing address: Apartado 4258, 1507 Lisboa Codex; PSC 83, APO AE 09726 telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300 FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109 consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Warnasena RASAPUTRAM 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Pedro Manuel Dos Reis Alves CATARINO
chancery: 2125 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-8610 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726 consulate(s) general: Boston, New York, Newark (New Jersey), and San Francisco consulate(s): New Bedford (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $271 million (1995) |
Economic aid - recipient | $577 million (1998) | - |
Economy - overview | 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. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an annual average rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-98 with growth of 6.4% and 4.7% - but slowed to 4.3% in 1999. Growth increased to 5.6% in 2000, with growth in tourism and exports leading the way. But a resurgence of civil war between the Sinhalese and the minority Tamils and a possible slowdown in tourism dampen prospects for 2001. For the next round of reforms, the central bank of Sri Lanka recommends that Colombo expand market mechanisms in nonplantation agriculture, dismantle the government's monopoly on wheat imports, and promote more competition in the financial sector. | Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-04. GDP per capita stands at two-thirds that of the Big Four EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness while keeping the budget deficit within the eurozone's 3%-of-GDP ceiling. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.604 billion kWh (1999) | 42.15 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 3.4 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 5.3 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 6.026 billion kWh (1999) | 43.28 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
29.9% hydro: 70.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m |
Environment - current issues | 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 | soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental Modification |
Ethnic groups | Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1% | homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal |
Exchange rates | Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 83.506 (January 2001), 77.005 (2000), 70.635 (1999), 64.450 (1998), 58.995 (1997), 55.271 (1996) | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ratnasiri WICKRAMANAYAKE (since 10 August 2000) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the chief of state and the head of the government, this is in contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when both offices exist head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ratnasiri WICKRAMANAYAKE (since 10 August 2000) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the chief of state and the head of the government, this is in contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when both offices exist 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 (PA) 51%, Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (UNP) 42%, other 7% |
chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Jose SOCRATES (since 12 March 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held January 2006); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Jorge SAMPAIO reelected president; percent of vote - Jorge SAMPAIO (Socialist) 55.8%, Joaquim FERREIRA Do Amaral (Social Democrat) 34.5%, Antonio ABREU (Communist) 5.1% |
Exports | $5.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | 28,830 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products | clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides |
Exports - partners | US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%, Germany 5%, Japan 4% (1999) | Spain 25%, France 14%, Germany 13.5%, UK 9.6%, US 6%, Italy 4.3%, Netherlands 4% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $62.7 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
21% industry: 19% services: 60% (1998) |
agriculture: 5.9%
industry: 30.2% services: 63.9% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,250 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $17,900 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.6% (2000 est.) | 1.1% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 7 00 N, 81 00 E | 39 30 N, 8 00 W |
Geography - note | strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes | Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar |
Highways | total:
11,285 km paved: 10,721 km unpaved: 564 km (1998 est.) |
total: 17,135 km
paved: 14,736 km (including 1,659 km of expressways) unpaved: 2,399 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.8% highest 10%: 39.7% (1995-96 est.) |
lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.) |
Illicit drugs | - | gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market (especially from Brazil); transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin |
Imports | $6.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | 357,300 bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, textiles, petroleum, foodstuffs | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products |
Imports - partners | Japan 10%, India 9%, Hong Kong 8%, Singapore 8%, South Korea 6% (1999) | Spain 29.3%, Germany 14.3%, France 9.3%, Italy 6.1%, UK 4.6%, Netherlands 4.6% (2004) |
Independence | 4 February 1948 (from UK) | 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (independent republic proclaimed) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (1999) | 1.1% (2004 est.) |
Industries | processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco | textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metals and metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; rubber and plastic products; ceramics; electronics and communications equipment; rail transportation equipment; aerospace equipment; ship construction and refurbishment; wine; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 16.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 5.05 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.53 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.5% (2000 est.) | 2.1% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 5 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 5,500 sq km (1993 est.) | 6,320 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president | Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura) |
Labor force | 6.6 million (1998) | 5.48 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.) | agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,214 km
border countries: Spain 1,214 km |
Land use | arable land:
14% permanent crops: 15% permanent pastures: 7% forests and woodland: 32% other: 32% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 21.75%
permanent crops: 7.81% other: 70.44% (2001) |
Languages | 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 |
Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used) |
Legal system | a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | 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 10 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - PA 45.11%, UNP 40.22%, JVP 6%, NUA 2.29%, SU 1.48%, TULF 1.23%, other 3.67%; seats by party - PA 107, UNP 89, JVP 10, TULF 5, EPDP 4, NUA 4, TELO 3, ACTC 1, SU 1, independent 1 |
unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009); note - President SAMPAIO called for early elections after dissolving parliament on 10 December 2004 because he lacked confidence in the four-month center-right government election results: percent of vote by party - PS 45.1%, PSD 28.7%, CDU 7.6%, PP 7.3%, BE 6.4%; seats by party - PS 121, PSD 75, CDU 14, PP 12, BE 8 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
72.09 years male: 69.58 years female: 74.73 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 77.53 years
male: 74.25 years female: 81.03 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.2% male: 93.4% female: 87.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.3% male: 95.5% female: 91.3% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India | Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain |
Map references | Asia | Europe |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin 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-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | total:
20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 149,902 GRT/247,852 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 16, container 1, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 114 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 872,557 GRT/1,236,025 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 38, chemical tanker 14, container 7, liquefied gas 9, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 9, roll on/roll off 4, vehicle carrier 8 foreign-owned: 97 (Australia 1, Belgium 6, Denmark 5, Germany 18, Greece 4, Iceland 1, Italy 11, Japan 8, Lebanon 1, Malta 1, Norway 4, Spain 19, Switzerland 4) registered in other countries: 28 (2005) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force | Army, Navy (Marinha Portuguesa; includes Marine Corps), Air Force (Forca Aerea Portuguesa, FAP), National Republican Guard (Guarda Nacional Republicana) (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $719 million (FY98) | $3,497.8 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.2% (FY98) | 2.3% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
5,304,323 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
4,119,511 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
193,522 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 February (1948) | Portugal Day, 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died |
Nationality | noun:
Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan |
noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
adjective: Portuguese |
Natural hazards | occasional cyclones and tornadoes | Azores subject to severe earthquakes |
Natural resources | limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower | fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987) | gas 1,099 km; oil 8 km; refined products 174 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC [Nalliah GURUPAUAN]; Ceylon Workers Congress or CLDC [Arumugam THONDAMAN]; Communist Party [Raja COLLURE]; Democratic United National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF [Srimani ATHULATHMUDALI]; Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRA]; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [leader NA]; People's Alliance or PA [Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDDATHAN]; Sihala Urumaya or SU [leader NA]; Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM and Ferial ASHRAFF]; Sri Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF [leader NA]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO [SUBRAMANIUM]; Tamil United Liberation Front or TULF [R. SAMPATHAN]; United National Party or UNP [Ranil WICKREMASINGHE]; Upcountry People's Front or UPF [P. CHANDRASEKARAN]; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in either parliament or provincial councils | Green Ecologist Party or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Ribeiro e CASTRO]; Portuguese Communist Party or PCP [Jeronimo de SOUSA]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Luis Marques MENDES]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA]; Unitarian Democratic Coalition or UDC [Jeronimo de SOUSA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Buddhist clergy; labor unions; Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE (insurgent group fighting for a separate state); radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups such as the National Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups | NA |
Population | 19,408,635 (July 2001 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 mid-1999, approximately 66,000 were housed in 133 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West |
10,566,212 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1997 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 0.87% (2001 est.) | 0.39% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee | Leixoes, Lisbon, Setubal, Sines |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 3.85 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
1,463 km broad gauge: 1,404 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (1996) |
total: 2,850 km
broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified) narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999) | Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
very inadequate domestic service, particularly in rural areas; some hope for 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: submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999) |
general assessment: Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations international: country code - 351; 6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned |
Telephones - main lines in use | 494,509 (1998) | 4,278,800 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 228,604 (1999) | 9,341,400 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 21 (1997) | 62 (plus 166 repeaters)
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands (1995) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior | mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south |
Total fertility rate | 1.95 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.47 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8.8% (1999 est.) | 6.5% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 430 km (navigable by shallow-draft craft) | 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003) |