##ciekawa_strona##
Compare Sri Lanka (2007) - Turkmenistan (2003)
Compare Sri Lanka (2007) z Turkmenistan (2003)
| Sri Lanka (2007) | Turkmenistan (2003) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western
note: in October 2006, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled voided a presidential directive merging the North and Eastern Provinces; many have defended the merger as a prerequisite for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict; a parliamentary decision on the issue is pending |
5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 24.3% (male 2,596,295/female 2,495,949)
15-64 years: 67.9% (male 6,947,310/female 7,259,271) 65 years and over: 7.8% (male 765,507/female 861,983) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 36.8% (male 899,954; female 855,293)
15-64 years: 59.2% (male 1,386,606; female 1,438,333) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 74,958; female 120,400) (2003 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish | cotton, grain; livestock |
| Airports | 18 (2007) | 76 (2002) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2007) |
total: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2002) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
total: 63
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 41 (2002) |
| Area | total: 65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km |
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than West Virginia | slightly larger than California |
| 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 the ethnic conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formalized a cease-fire in February 2002 with Norway brokering peace negotiations. Violence between the LTTE and government forces intensified in 2006, but neither side has formally withdrawn from the cease-fire. | Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1925. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects can be worked out. |
| Birth rate | 17 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 28.02 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $4.883 billion
expenditures: $6.827 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $588.6 million
expenditures: $658.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
| Capital | name: Colombo
geographic coordinates: 6 56 N, 79 51 E time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative capital) |
Ashgabat |
| Climate | tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October) | subtropical desert |
| Coastline | 1,340 km | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
| Constitution | adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978 | adopted 18 May 1992 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka local long form: Shri Lamka Prajatantrika Samajaya di Janarajaya/Ilankai Jananayaka Choshalichak Kutiyarachu local short form: Shri Lamka/Ilankai former: Serendib, Ceylon |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Currency | - | Turkmen manat (TMM) |
| Death rate | 6.01 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 8.87 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $12.16 billion (2006 est.) | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert O. BLAKE, Jr.
embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo telephone: [94] (11) 249-8500 FAX: [94] (11) 243-7345 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
embassy: 9 Pushkin Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
| Disputes - international | none | prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; Turkmenistan has not committed to follow either Iran or the other littoral states in the division of the Caspian Sea seabed and water column; ICJ decision expected to resolve dispute with Azerbaijan over sovereignty over Caspian oilfields; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan is underway - maritime boundary not resolved |
| Economic aid - recipient | $1.189 billion (2005) | $16 million from the US (2001) |
| Economy - overview | In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for more market-oriented policies, export-oriented trade, and encouragement of foreign investment. Recent changes in government, however, have brought some policy reversals. Currently, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party has a more statist economic approach, which seeks to reduce poverty by steering investment to disadvantaged areas, developing small and medium enterprises, promoting agriculture, and expanding the already enormous civil service. The government has halted most privatizations. Although suffering a brutal civil war that began in 1983, Sri Lanka saw GDP growth average 4.5% in the last 10 years with the exception of a recession in 2001. 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. Growth, partly spurred by reconstruction, reached 5% in 2005 and more than 6% in 2006. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, port construction, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2005, plantation crops made up only about 15% of exports (compared with more than 90% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for more than 60%. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home more than $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for an independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy. | Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth-largest producer. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2003, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by 38% in 2003, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, and the unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms. However, Turkmenistan's cooperation with the international community in transporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may foreshadow a change in the atmosphere for foreign investment, aid, and technological support. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In any event, GDP increased substantially in 2003 because of a strong recovery in agriculture and rapid industrial growth. |
| Electricity - consumption | 7.072 billion kWh (2005) | 8.509 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 980 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 20 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 8.411 billion kWh (2005) | 10.18 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 99.9%
hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m |
lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)
highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 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 | contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification |
| 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | 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) | Turkmen 77%, Uzbek 9.2%, Russian 6.7%, Kazakh 2%, other 5.1% (1995) |
| Exchange rates | Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004), 96.521 (2003), 95.662 (2002) | Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (2002), 5,200 (2001), 5,200 (2000), 5,200 (1999), 4,890.17 (1998); note - the official exchange rate has not varied for the last four years; the unofficial rate has fluctuated slightly, hovering around 21,000 manats to the dollar |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSA (since 19 November 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; Ratnasiri WICKREMANAYAKE (since 21 November 2005) holds the largely ceremonial title of prime minister
head of government: President Mahinda RAJAPAKSA (since 19 November 2005) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 17 November 2005 (next to be held in 2011) election results: Mahinda RAJAPAKSA elected president; percent of vote - Mahinda RAJAPAKSA 50.3%, Ranil WICKREMESINGHE 48.4%, other 1.3% |
chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 by the Assembly (Majlis) during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held NA); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the Assembly on 28 December 1999); deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5% |
| Exports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish | gas 57%, oil 26%, cotton fiber 3%, textiles 2% (2001) |
| Exports - partners | US 27.6%, UK 11.3%, India 9.3%, Belgium 4.7% (2006) | Ukraine 49.7%, Italy 18%, Iran 13.1%, Turkey 6.2% (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 | green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe |
| GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $31.34 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 16.5%
industry: 27.1% services: 56.5% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 27%
industry: 50% services: 23% (2001 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2002 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 7.4% (2006 est.) | 21.1% (2002 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 7 00 N, 81 00 E | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
| Geography - note | strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes | landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau |
| Highways | - | total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 39.7% (FY03/04) |
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
| Illicit drugs | - | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of opium poppy for domestic consumption; small-scale government-run eradication of illicit crops; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan |
| Imports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment | machinery and equipment 60%, foodstuffs 15% (1999) |
| Imports - partners | India 19.6%, China 10.5%, Singapore 8.7%, Iran 5.7%, Malaysia 5.1%, Hong Kong 4.2%, Japan 4.1% (2006) | Russia 19.8%, Turkey 12.8%, Ukraine 11.7%, UAE 10%, US 7.5%, China 6%, Germany 5.7%, Iran 4.4% (2002) |
| Independence | 4 February 1948 (from UK) | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 6.2% (2006 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
| Industries | processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 19.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.2 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 73.17 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 69.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 13.7% (2006 est.) | 5% (2002 est.) |
| International organization participation | AsDB, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 |
| Irrigated land | 7,430 sq km (2003) | 17,500 sq km (2003 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
| Labor force | 7.602 million (2006 est.) | 2.34 million (1996) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 34.3%
industry: 25.3% services: 40.4% (30 June 2006 est.) |
agriculture 48%, industry 15%, services 37% (1998 est.) |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
| Land use | arable land: 13.96%
permanent crops: 15.24% other: 70.8% (2005) |
arable land: 3.47%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 96.39% (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 |
Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
| Legal system | a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Islamic, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
| 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 on 2 April 2004 (next to be held by 2010) election results: percent of vote by party or electoral alliance - SLFP and JVP (no longer in formal UPFA alliance) 45.6%, UNP 37.8%, TNA 6.8%, JHU 6%, SLMC 2%, UPF 0.5%, EPDP 0.3%, other 1%; seats by party - UNP 68, SLFP 57, JVP 39, TNA 22, CWC 8, JHU 7, SLMC 6, SLMC dissidents 4, Communist Party 2, JHU dissidents 2, LSSP 2, MEP 2, NUA 2, UPF 2, EPDP 1, UNP dissident 1 |
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (more than 100 seats, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Assembly or Majlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - NA; Assembly - last held 12 December 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - all 50 elected officials preapproved by President NIYAZOV; most are from the DPT |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.8 years
male: 72.81 years female: 76.88 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 61.19 years
male: 57.72 years female: 64.84 years (2003 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.7% male: 92.3% female: 89.1% (2001 census) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
| Location | Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
| 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: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 162,280 GRT/227,478 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 18, container 2, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 6 (Germany 6) registered in other countries: 3 (Panama 3) (2007) |
total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
ships by type: combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 1 (2002 est.) |
| Military branches | Sri Lankan Army, Sri Lankan Navy, Sri Lankan Air Force (2006) | Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $90 million (FY99) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.6% (2006) | 3.4% (FY99) |
| Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,239,737 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 1,005,686 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 53,825 (2003 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 4 February (1948) | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) |
| Nationality | noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen |
| Natural hazards | occasional cyclones and tornadoes | NA |
| Natural resources | limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower | petroleum, natural gas, coal, sulfur, salt |
| Net migration rate | -1.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 6,634 km; oil 853 km (2003) |
| Political parties and leaders | All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC [A. VINAYAKAMOORTHY]; Ceylon Workers Congress or CWC [Arumugam THONDAMAN]; Communist Party or CP [D. GUNASEKERA]; Democratic United National (Lalith) Front or DUNLF [T.N.S. NANAYAKKARA]; Eelam People's Democratic Party or EPDP [Douglas DEVANANDA]; Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front or EPRLF [Suresh PREMACHANDRAN]; Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna or JVP [Somawansa AMARASINGHE]; Lanka Sama Samaja Party or LSSP [Tissa VITHARANA]; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) or MEP [D. GUNAWARDENE]; National Heritage Party or JHU [Ellawala METHANANDA]; National Unity Alliance or NUA [Ferial ASHRAFF]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam or PLOTE [D. SIDHARTHAN]; Sri Lanka Freedom Party or SLFP [Mahinda RAJAPAKSA]; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or SLMC [Rauff HAKEEM]; Sri Lanka Progressive Front or SLPF [P. Nelson PERERA]; Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO [Selvam ADAIKALANATHAN]; 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 | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHUMRADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow |
| 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; Tamil Eela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, TMVP or "Karuna group" [Vinayagamurthi MURALITHARAN] (paramilitary breakaway from LTTE and fighting against LTTE) | NA |
| Population | 20,926,315
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 2007 est.) |
4,775,544 (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 22% (2002 est.) | 34.4% (2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.982% (2007 est.) | 1.82% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | - | Turkmenbasy |
| Radio broadcast stations | 34 (station types NA) (2006) | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) |
| Railways | total: 1,449 km
broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2006) |
total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2002) |
| Religions | Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data) | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.957 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.888 male(s)/female total population: 0.971 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: telephone services have improved significantly and are available in most parts of the country
domestic: national trunk network consists mostly of digital microwave radio relay; fiber-optic links now in use in Colombo area and 2 fixed wireless local loops have been installed; competition is strong in mobile cellular systems and mobile cellular subscribership is increasing; telephone density remains low international: country code - 94; submarine cables to Indonesia, Djibouti, India and Maldives; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: NA international: linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 2.087 million (2007) | 363,000 (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 5.959 million (2007) | 4,300 (1998) |
| Television broadcast stations | 14 (2006) | 3 (much programming relayed from Russia and Turkey) (1997) |
| Terrain | mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west |
| Total fertility rate | 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 3.5 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 7.6% (2006 est.) | NA% |
| Waterways | 160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2006) | the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for Turkmenistan, as is the man-made Kara Kum canal |
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