Sri Lanka (2002) | Tuvalu (2003) | |
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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 | none |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25.6% (male 2,559,246; female 2,446,393)
15-64 years: 67.7% (male 6,446,320; female 6,802,515) 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 628,398; female 693,911) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 31.9% (male 1,838; female 1,772)
15-64 years: 63% (male 3,432; female 3,687) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 231; female 345) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef | coconuts; fish |
Airports | 15 (2001) | 1 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2002) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total: 65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km |
total: 26 sq km
land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than West Virginia | 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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-3rd century B.C. and a great civilization developed at such cities as Anuradhapura (kingdom from c. 200 B.C. to c. 1000 A.D.) and Polonnaruwa (c. 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 and became a crown colony 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. | In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years. |
Birth rate | 16.36 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 21.58 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.8 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues: $22.5 million
expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.) |
Capital | Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital | Funafuti |
Climate | tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October) | tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) |
Coastline | 1,340 km | 24 km |
Constitution | adopted 16 August 1978 | 1 October 1978 |
Country name | conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands |
Currency | Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) | Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar |
Death rate | 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 7.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.9 billion (2000) | $NA |
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 |
the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Devinda R. SUBASINGHE
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 |
Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534 |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $577 million (1998) (1998) | $13 million ; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.) |
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 average annual 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 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%. But 2001 saw the first contraction in the country's history, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. | Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and investment income from overseas assets. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.156 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 6.619 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 32%
hydro: 68% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 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 | since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary |
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: Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1% | Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4% |
Exchange rates | Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 93.383 (January 2002), 89.383 (2001), 77.005 (2000), 70.635 (1999), 64.450 (1998), 58.995 (1997) | Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.8406 (2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December 2001) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government, 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 - Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December 2001) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government, 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Faimalaga LUKA (since 9 September 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Saufatu SOPOANGA (since 2 August 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 2 August 2002 (next to be held NA) election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA elected prime minister; Parliamentary vote - Saufatu SOPOANGA 8, Amasone KILEI 7 |
Exports | $4.9 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $276,000 f.o.b. (1997) |
Exports - commodities | textiles and apparel 15%, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products | copra, fish |
Exports - partners | US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%, Germany 4%, Japan 4% (2000) | UK 58.3%, Italy 16.7%, Denmark 8.3%, Fiji 8.3% (2002) |
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 around the entire flag and extends between the two panels | light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $62.7 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $12.2 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 21%
industry: 27% services: 52% (2000) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,250 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -1% (2001 est.) | 3% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 7 00 N, 81 00 E | 8 00 S, 178 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes | one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon |
Highways | total: 11,285 km
paved: 10,721 km unpaved: 564 km (1998 est.) |
total: 8 km
paved: 0 km unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 28% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $6 billion f.o.b. (2001) | $7.2 million c.i.f. (1998) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, textiles, petroleum, foodstuffs | food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | Japan 9%, India 8%, Hong Kong 7%, Singapore 7%, South Korea 5% (2000) | Hungary 68.2%, Japan 12.9%, Fiji 11.9% (2002) |
Independence | 4 February 1948 (from UK) | 1 October 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.4% (2001) | NA% |
Industries | rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco | fishing, tourism, copra |
Infant mortality rate | 15.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 21.34 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.35 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 14.2% (2001 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, 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, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IFRCS (associate), ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 5 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 6,510 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president | High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction) |
Labor force | 6.6 million (1998) | 7,000 (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.) | people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 13.43%
permanent crops: 15.78% other: 70.79% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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 |
Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
Legal system | a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
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 7 December 2001 (next to be held NA December 2007) election results: percent of vote by party or electoral alliance - UNP, SLMC and CWC 46.8%, PA and EPDP 38%, JVP 9.1%, Tamil National Alliance 3.89%, PLOTE 0.19%; seats by party or electoral alliance - UNP, SLMC and CWC 114, PA and EPDP 79, JVP 16, Tamil National Alliance 15, PLOTE 1 |
unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.35 years
male: 69.83 years female: 75 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 67.32 years
male: 65.15 years female: 69.59 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.2% male: 93.4% female: 87.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: NA%
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India | Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Asia | Oceania |
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 |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 137,321 GRT/233,367 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 15, container 1, petroleum tanker 1, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 9, Hong Kong 1, United Arab Emirates 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 33,199 GRT/56,187 DWT
ships by type: cargo 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 5 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force | no regular military forces; Police Force (includes Maritime Surveillance Unit for search and rescue missions and surveillance operations) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $719 million (FY98) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.2% (FY98) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 5,347,153 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 4,148,825 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 193,522 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 February (1948) | Independence Day, 1 October (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan |
noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan |
Natural hazards | occasional cyclones and tornadoes | severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower | fish |
Net migration rate | -1.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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 Peramuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF]; People's Alliance or PA [Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [leader NA]; Sihala Urumaya or SU [Tilak KARUNARATNE]; 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 [Nadarajah RAVIRAJ]; 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 | there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings |
Political pressure groups and leaders | 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 | none |
Population | 19,576,783
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 (July 2002 est.) |
11,305 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1997 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.85% (2002 est.) | 1.42% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee | Funafuti, Nukufetau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1999) |
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 (2001) |
0 km |
Religions | Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999) | Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6% |
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: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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: submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999) |
general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications
domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 494,509 (1998) | 1,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 228,604 (1999) | 0 (1994) |
Television broadcast stations | 21 (1997) | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior | very low-lying and narrow coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 1.93 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 3.05 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.7% (2001) | NA% |
Waterways | 430 km (navigable by shallow-draft craft) | none |