1985 Edition

Agriculture

islands depend largely on coconut production and export of copra; cinnamon, vanilla, and patchouli (used for perfumes) are other cash crops; food crops — small quantities of sweet potatoes, cassava, sugarcane, and bananas; islands not self-sufficient in foodstuffs and the bulk of the, supply must be imported; fish is an important food source

agriculture accounts for about 25% of GDP; main crops — rice, rubber, tea, coconuts

Aid

economic commitments — Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (197882), $184 million; US(FY78-83), $8.7 million; Communist countries (1970-83), $10 million

Airfields

1 total, 7 usable; 1 with permanentsurface runways 2,440-3,659 m

14 total, 10 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

280 km2; less than two-thirds the size of New York City; 54% arable land, nearly all cultivated; 17% woods and forest; 29% other (mainly reefs and other surfaces unsuited for agriculture); 40 granitic and 50 or more coralline islands Water

637,657 km2; slightly smaller than Texas; 32% grazing; 14% scrub and forest; 13% arable (0.3% cultivated); 41% mainly desert, urban, or other

65,610 km2; about one-half the size of North Carolina; 44% forest; 31% waste, urban, or other; 25% cultivated Water

Branches

President, Council of Ministers, People's Assembly

Army, Navy, Air Force

the 1978 constitution established a strong presidential form of government under J. R. Jayewardene, who had been Prime Minister since his party's election victory in July 1977; Jayewardene was elected to a second term in October 1982 and will serve until 1989 regardless of whether Parliament is dissolved; the current Parliament was extended until August 1989 by a national referendum held in December 1982

Army, Air Force, Navy, Police Force

Budget

(1983) revenues, $59 million; grants, $13 million; current expenditures, $65 million; development expenditures, $16 million; net lending, $9 million

(1983) revenues, $1.0 billion; expenditures, $1.7 billion

Capital

Victoria, Mahe Island

Colombo

Civil air

1 major transport aircraft

8 major transport (including 1 leased)

Coastline

491 km (Mahe Island 93 km) People

3,025 km People

1,340km People

853 km People

Communists

negligible, although some Cabinet ministers espouse pro-Soviet line

approximately 107,000 voted for the Communist Party in the July 1977 general election; Communist Party/Moscow approximately 5,000 members (1975), Communist Party/Peking 1,000 members (1970 est.)

Elections

general election held June 1979 gave 98% approval to Rene as only presidential candidate on yes/no ballot; reelected in June 1984 with 92% of vote Political parties and leaders: Rene, who heads the Seychelles People's Progressive Front, came to power by a military coup in June 1977; until then he had been Prime Minister in an uneasy coalition with then President James Mancham, who headed the Seychelles Democratic Party; Rene banned the Seychelles Democratic Party in March 1978 and announced a new constitution in March 1979 that turned the country into a oneparty state

national elections ordinarily held every six years; must be held more frequently if government loses confidence vote; the constitution was amended in August 1982 to permit the President to call early presidential election Political parties and leaders: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike; Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP; Trotskyite), C. R. de Silva; Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), V. Nanayakkara; Tamil United Liberation Front, A. Amirthalingam; United National Party (UNP), J. R. Jayewardene; Communist Party/Moscow, K. P. Silva; Communist Party/Peking, N. Shanmugathasan; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front), M. B. Ratnayaka; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; People's Liberation Front), Rohana Wijeweera; All-Ceylon Tamil Congress, Kumar Ponnambalam

Electric power

20,000 kW capacity (1984); 52 million kWh produced (1984), 787 kWh per capita

642,000 kW capacity (1984); 2.1 billion kWh produced (1984), 132 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

Seychellois (mixture of Asians, Africans, Europeans)

85% Somali, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians

74% Sinhalese; 18% Tamil; 7% Moor; 1% Burgher, Malay, and Vedcloh

52% black, 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 2% foreigners, 1 % other

Exports

$2.8 million (f .o.b., 1982); cinnamon (bark and oil) and copra account for about 60%; fish 35%; tourism earned an additional $32.5 million

$1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1983); tea, rubber, petroleum products, textiles •

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

1 January-31 December Communications

Fishing

catch 21 1,000 metric tons(1982 est.)

GDP

$4.9 billion (1983), $31 6 per capita; real growth rate 4.9% (1983)

Government leader

France Albert RENE, President (since June 1979)

Junius Richard JAYEWARDENE, President (since 1978)

Highways

215 km total; 145 km bituminous, 70 km crushed stone or earth

66,176 km total (1979); 24,300 km paved (mostly bituminous treated), 28,916 km crushed stone or gravel, 12,960 km improved earth or unimproved earth; in addition, several thousand km of tracks, mostly unmotorable

Imports

$80.9 million (f.o.b., 1983); manufactured goods about 25%; food, tobacco, and beverages almost 20%; machinery and transport equipment almost 20%; and petroleum products about 20%

$1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1983); petroleum, machinery, transport equipment, sugar

Inland waterways

430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Labor force

15,000 in monetized sector (excluding self-employed, domestic servants, and workers on small farms); 49% government, 19% industry and commerce, 18.5% agriculture, 13.5% services

about 2.2 million; very few are skilled laborers; 70% pastoral nomad, 30% agriculturists, government employees, traders, fishermen, handicraftsmen, other

4 million; 15% unemployed; employed persons — 45.9% agriculture, 13.3% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 26.3% services and other; extensive underemployment

8.6 million (1979); roughly 78% agriculture, 12% services, 10% industry; labor shortages for almost all categories of employment coexist with urban unemployment Government

Land boundaries

2,263 km Water

7,805 km Water

Language

English and French (official); Creole

Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English

Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population; Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population

Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, NiloHamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process

Legal system

based on English common law, French civil law, and customary law

a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; new constitution 7 September 1978 reinstituted a strong, independent judiciary; legal education at Sri Lanka Law College and University of Colombo; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

200 nm

12 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm; also pearling in the Gulf of Mannar)

12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone")

Literacy

60%

60%

87%

20%

Major industries

tourism is laYgest industry; processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing, small-scale manufacture of consumer goods, coir rope factory, tea factory

processing of rubber, tea, and other agricultural commodities; consumer goods manufacture; garment industry

Major trade partners

exports — UK, Italy, Bahrain, Japan

(1982) exports— 14% US, 6% UK; imports— 15% Saudi Arabia, 14% Japan

Member of

Af DB, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO Economy GDP; $150 million (1983 esl); $2,310 per capita (1983 est); real growth rate —0.2% (1981 est.)

ADB, ANRPC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO; is applying for membership in ASEAN Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985, $117.6 million, 5% of central government estimated budget Sud an See regional mip VII Land 2,505,813 km2; over one-fourth the size of the US; 37% arable (3% cultivated); 33% desert, waste, or urban; 15% grazing; 15% forest

Military manpower

males 15-49, 16,000; 8,000 fit for military service

males 15-49, 4,301,000; 3,378,000 fit for military service; 188,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

7.28 Seychelles rupees=US$l (31 October 1984)

25.990 rupees=US$l (October 1984)

National holiday

Independence Day, 22 May

National holidays

5 and 29 June

Nationality

noun — Seychellois (sing, and pi.); adjective— Seychelles

noun — Somali(s); adjective — Somali

noun — Sri Lankan(s); adjective— Sri Lankan

noun — Sudanese (sing, and pi.); adject i ve — Sudanese

Official name

Republic of Seychelles

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Democratic Republic of the

Organized labor

3 major trade unions Government

about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates Government

Other political or pressure groups

trade unions, church

Buddhist clergy, Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; farleft violent revolutionary groups; labor unions; Tamil separatist groups

Pipelines

crude, 14 km; refined products, 55 km

Political subdivisions

9 provinces, 24 administrative districts, and four categories of semiautonomous elected local governments

Population

66,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 0.9%

7,595,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 3.0%

16,206,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 1.8%

21,761,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 2.7%

Ports

1 small port (Victoria)

3 major, 9 minor

Railroads

none

1,496 km total (1980); all 1.435meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned

Religion

90% Roman Catholic, 8% Anglican, 2% other

almost entirely Sunni Muslim

69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Christian, 8% Muslim, 0.1% other

70% Sunni Muslim in north, 20% indigenous beliefs, 5% Christian (mostly in south)

Suffrage

universal adult

universal over age 18

Supply

infantry-type weapons and ammunition from Tanzania, USSR, and China

Telecommunications

direct radio communications with adjacent islands and African coastal countries; 8,300 telephones (11.9 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, no FM stations; 1 TV station; Indian Ocean satellite station; USAF tracking station Defense Forces

good international service; 75,000 (est.) telephones (0.5 per 100 popl.); 16 AM, 2 FM stations; 1 TV station; submarine cables extend to India; 1 ground satellite station Defense Forces

Type

republic; member of the Commonwealth

independent state since 1948

Voting strength

(October 1982 presidential election) UNP 52.91%, SLFP 39.07%, JVP 4.18%, All Ceylon Tamil Congress 2.67%, LSSP .9%, NSSP .27%