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NAVIGATION
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
former: Serendib, Ceylon
GOVERNMENT
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon |
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Government type:
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republic |
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Capital:
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Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital |
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Administrative divisions:
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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 |
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Independence:
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4 February 1948 (from UK) |
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National holiday:
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Independence Day, 4 February (1948) |
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Constitution:
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adopted 16 August 1978 |
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Legal system:
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a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December 2001) is the prime minister; the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December 2001) 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 (PA) 51%, Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (UNP) 42%, other 7% |
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Legislative branch:
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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%, TNA 3.89%, PLOTE 0.19%; seats by party or electoral alliance - UNP, SLMC and CWC 114, PA and EPDP 79, JVP 16, TNA 15, PLOTE 1 |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts are appointed by the president |
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Political parties and leaders:
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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 |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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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 |
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International organization participation:
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AsDB, C, 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, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Devinda R. SUBASINGHE
consulate(s): New York consulate(s) general: Los Angeles FAX: [1] (202) 232-7181 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4025 (through 4028) chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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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 |
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Flag description:
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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 |
ECONOMY
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Economy - overview:
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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% 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 3.2% in 2002. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a year. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (2002 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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3.2% (2002 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2002 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 20%
industry: 26% services: 54% (2001) |
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Population below poverty line:
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22% (1997 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 3.5%
highest 10%: 28% (1995) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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34.4 (1995) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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9.6% (2002 est.) |
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Labor force:
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6.6 million (1998) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.) |
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Unemployment rate:
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8% (2002) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $2.8 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
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Industries:
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rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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1.1% (2002) |
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Electricity - production:
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6.36 billion kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 51.7%
hydro: 48.3% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 0% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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5.915 billion kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2001) |
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Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2001) |
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Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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75,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
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Oil - exports:
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NA (2001) |
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Oil - imports:
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NA (2001) |
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Agriculture - products:
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rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef |
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Exports:
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$4.6 billion f.o.b. (2002) |
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Exports - commodities:
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textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products |
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Exports - partners:
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US 38.7%, UK 10.6%, Germany 4.3%, Japan 4.1%, Middle East (2001) |
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Imports:
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$5.4 billion f.o.b. (2002) |
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Imports - commodities:
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textiles, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment |
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Imports - partners:
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India 9.9%, Singapore 6.5%, Hong Kong 6.3%, Japan 4.8%, South Korea (2001) |
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Debt - external:
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$9.8 billion (2002) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$577 million (1998) |
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Currency:
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Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) |
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Currency code:
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LKR |
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Exchange rates:
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Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 95.6621 (2002), 89.383 (2001), 77.0051 (2000), 70.6354 (1999), 64.4501 (1998) |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |