Sri Lanka (2004) | Nepal (2002) | |
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 | 14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 24.8% (male 2,526,143; female 2,414,876)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 6,589,438; female 6,976,487) 65 years and over: 7% (male 655,636; female 742,585) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 40% (male 5,346,422; female 5,007,416)
15-64 years: 56.4% (male 7,476,202; female 7,125,471) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 453,263; female 465,143) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef | rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat |
Airports | 14 (2003 est.) | 45 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 13
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2004 est.) |
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 28 (2002) |
Area | total: 65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km |
total: 140,800 sq km
land: 136,800 sq km water: 4,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than West Virginia | slightly larger than Arkansas |
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-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. | In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A maoist insugency, launched in 1996, has gained traction and is threatening to bring down the regime. Ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, were massacred in a family dispute in 2001. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. The country is now governed by the king and his appointed cabinet until elections can be held at some unspecified future date. |
Birth rate | 15.88 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 32.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $3.229 billion
expenditures: $4.526 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues: $665 million
expenditures: $1.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.) |
Capital | Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital | Kathmandu |
Climate | tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October) | varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south |
Coastline | 1,340 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | adopted 16 August 1978 | 9 November 1990 |
Country name | conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Nepal
conventional short form: Nepal |
Currency | Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) | Nepalese rupee (NPR) |
Death rate | 6.47 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 10.03 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $10.52 billion (2003) | $2.55 billion (FY00/01) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Michael E. MALINOWSKI
embassy: Panipokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 411179 FAX: [977] (1) 419963 |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Jai Pratap RANA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550 FAX: [1] (202) 667-5534 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | none | formed Joint Border committee with India in 2001 to resolve 53 disputed sections of boundary covering an area of 720 sq km; approximately 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps, place decades-long strains on Nepal |
Economic aid - recipient | $577 million (1998) | $424 million (FY00/01) |
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. 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 5.2% in 2003. 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. | Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Textile and carpet production, accounteing for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in recent years, contracted significantly in 2001 due to the overall slowdown in the world economy and pressures by Maoist insurgents on factory owners and workers. Security concerns in the wake of Maoist activity, the June massacre of many members of the royal family, and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US led to a decrease in tourism, another key source of foreign exchange. Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.3%. Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms, particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by reducing business licenses and registration requirements to simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying off civil servants. More recently, however, political instability - five different governments over the past few years - has hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.915 billion kWh (2001) | 1.431 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 95 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 174 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 6.36 billion kWh (2001) | 1.454 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 10%
hydro: 90% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m |
lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
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 | deforestation (overuse of wood for fuel and lack of alternatives); contaminated water (with human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents); wildlife conservation; vehicular emissions |
Environment - international agreements | 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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1% | Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Tharu, and others (1995) |
Exchange rates | Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 96.521 (2003), 95.6621 (2002), 89.383 (2001), 77.0051 (2000), 70.6354 (1999) | Nepalese rupees per US dollar - 76.675 (January 2002), 74.961 (2001), 71.094 (2000), 68.239 (1999), 65.976 (1998), 58.010 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Mahinda RAJAPAKSE (since 6 April 2004)i s 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 (since 6 April 2004) is the prime minister; 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% |
chief of state: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne 4 June 2001 following the death of his nephew, King DIPENDRA Bir Bikram Shah)
head of government: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur CHAND (since 11 October 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch note: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev died in a bloody shooting at the royal palace on 1 June 2001 that also claimed the lives of most of the royal family; King BIRENDRA's son, Crown Price DIPENDRA, is believed to have been responsible for the shootings before fatally wounding himself; immediately following the shootings and while still clinging to life, DIPENDRA was crowned king; he died three days later and was succeeded by his uncle |
Exports | NA (2001) | $757 million f.o.b., but does not include unrecorded border trade with India (FY00/01 est.) |
Exports - commodities | textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products | carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain |
Exports - partners | US 34.6%, UK 12.5%, India 4.8%, Germany 4.5% (2003) | India 48%, US 26%, Germany 11% (FY00/01) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 16 July - 15 July |
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 | red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $35.6 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 19.9%
industry: 26.3% services: 53.8% (2003) |
agriculture: 41%
industry: 22% services: 37% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.5% (2003 est.) | 2.6% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 7 00 N, 81 00 E | 28 00 N, 84 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes | landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest - the world's tallest - on the border with China |
Highways | total: 96,695 km
paved: 91,860 km unpaved: 4,835 km (1999) |
total: 13,223 km
paved: 4,073 km unpaved: 9,150 km (April 1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.5%
highest 10%: 28% (1995) |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 30% (1995-96) |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West |
Imports | NA (2001) | $1.6 billion f.o.b. (FY00/01 est.) |
Imports - commodities | textiles, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment | gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer |
Imports - partners | India 16.1%, Hong Kong 8.4%, Singapore 7.8%, Japan 6.7%, China 4.9%, South Korea 4.2%, Taiwan 4.2%, UK 4.1%, Malaysia 4% (2003) | India 39%, Singapore 10%, China/Hong Kong 9%, (FY00/01) |
Independence | 4 February 1948 (from UK) | 1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.8% (2003) | 8.7% (FY99/00) |
Industries | rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco | tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarette; cement and brick production |
Infant mortality rate | total: 14.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.01 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
72.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.3% (2003 est.) | 2.1% |
International organization participation | 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 | AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 6 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 6,510 sq km (1998 est.) | 11,350 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president | Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council) |
Labor force | 7.17 million (2003) | 10 million
note: severe lack of skilled labor (1996 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 38%, industry 17%, services 45% (1998 est.) | agriculture 81%, services 16%, industry 3% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 2,926 km
border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km |
Land use | arable land: 13.86%
permanent crops: 15.7% other: 70.44% (2001) |
arable land: 20.27%
permanent crops: 0.49% other: 79.24% (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 |
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in government and business also speak English (1995) |
Legal system | a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 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 |
note: Nepal's Parliament was dissolved on 22 May 2002 and elections are scheduled for 13 November 2002
bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999 (next to be held 13 November 2002) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%; seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.89 years
male: 70.34 years female: 75.57 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 58.61 years
male: 59.01 years female: 58.2 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.3% male: 94.8% female: 90% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 27.5% male: 40.9% female: 14% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India | Southern Asia, between China and India |
Map references | Asia | Asia |
Maritime claims | 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 |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 120,924 GRT/173,604 DWT
by type: cargo 14, container 2, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: Germany 8, Singapore 1 registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force | Royal Nepalese Army (includes Royal Nepalese Army Air Service), Nepalese Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $518 million (2003) | $51.5 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.2% (2003) | 1% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 5,418,496 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 6,484,343 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 4,195,736 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 3,369,454 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 17 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 179,869 (2004 est.) | males: 292,589 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 February (1948) | Birthday of King GYANENDRA, 7 July (1946) |
Nationality | noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan |
noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese |
Natural hazards | occasional cyclones and tornadoes | severe thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the summer monsoons |
Natural resources | limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower | quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore |
Net migration rate | -1.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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 Perumuna or JVP [Tilvan SILVA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF]; National Heritage Party or JHU [Tilak KARUNARATNE]; 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 | Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA, chairman]; National People's Front (Rastriya Jana Morcha) [Chitra Bahadur, chairman]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Bhadri Prasad MANDAL, acting party president]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, party chair]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA, party president, Sushil KOIRALA, general secretary]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila Mani POKHAREL, general secretary] |
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 | Maoist guerrilla-based insurgency; numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups |
Population | 19,905,165
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 yearend 2000, approximately 65,000 were housed in 131 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 2004 est.) |
25,873,917 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 22% (1997 est.) | 42% (FY95/96 est. ) |
Population growth rate | 0.81% (2004 est.) | 2.29% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 26, FM 45, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (January 2000) |
Radios | - | 840,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 1,449 km
broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2003) |
total: 59 km
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge note: all in Kosi close to Indian border (2001) |
Religions | Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999) | Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world (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: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2002 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: country code - 94; submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (1999) |
general assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network
domestic: NA international: radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 881,400 (2002) | 236,816 (January 2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 931,600 (2002) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 21 (1997) | 1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior | Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.88 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 4.48 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8.4% (2003) | 47% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | 160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2004) | none |