1981 Edition

Area

65,500 km2; 25% cultivated; 44% forested; 31% waste, urban, and other

2,504,530 km2; 37% arable (3% cultivated), 15% grazing, 33% desert, waste, or urban, 15% forest

Coastline

1,340 km

853 km

Land boundaries

7,805 km

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (fishing 200 nm, plus pearling in the Gulf of Mannar; 200 nm exclusive economic zone)

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

Ethnic divisions

74% Sinhalese, 18% Tamil, 7% Moor, 1% other

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

Labor force

4 million; 17% unemployed; employed persons — 53.4% agriculture, 14.8% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 19.4% services and other; extensive underemployment

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

Language

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, Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process

Literacy

82% (1970 est.)

20%

Nationality

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

noun — Sudanese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Sudanese

Organized labor

43% of labor force, over 50% of which employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates

Population

15,398,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.8%

19,868,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.8%

Religion

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

73% Sunni Muslims in north, 23% pagan, 4% Christian (mostly in south)

Branches

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 will remain President until 1984, regardless of whether Parliament is dissolved and subsequent parliamentary elections are held; when Jayewardene 's term in office expires, a new President will be chosen by a direct national election for a six-year term

President and Cabinet; 151-member People's Assembly; five new regional assemblies inaugurated in June 1981 for northern Sudan; plans for the division of southern Sudan are under consideration

Capital

Colombo

Khartoum

Communists

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

national elections, ordinarily held every six years; must be held more frequently if government loses confidence vote; last election held July 1977 Political parties and leaders: Sri Lanka Freedom PartySirimavo, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, president, and Sri Lanka Freedom Party — Maitwripala, Maitwripala Senanayake, president (this split in the SLFP may eventually be resolved; both sides allege to be the "official" SLFP; Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Trotskyite), C. R. de Silva, president; Naya Sama Samaja Party, V. Nanayakkara, leader; Tamil United Liberation Front, A. Amirthalingam, leader; United National Party, J. R. Jayewardene; Communist Party/Moscow, K. P. Silva, general secretary; Communist Party/Peking, N. Shanmugathasan, general secretary; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front), M. B. Ratnayaka, president; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front), Rohana Wijeweera, leader Voting strength (1977 election): 30% Sri Lanka Freedom Party, 51% United National Party, 3.9% Lanka Sama Samaja Party, 1.8% Communist Party/Moscow, 6.5% TULF minor parties and independents accounted for remainder

elections for National People's Assembly held in December 1981-January 1982; most recent presidential election held April 1977 with Nimeiri as sole candidate Political parties and leaders: all parliamentary political parties outlawed since May 1969; the ban on the Sudan Communist Party was not enforced until after abortive coup in July 1971; the government's mass political organization, the Sudan Socialist Union, was formed in January 1972

Government leader

President J. R. JAYEWARDENE

President Gen. Gaafar Mohamed NIMEIRI

Legal system

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 Sri Lanka, Peradeniya; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

based on English common law and Islamic law; some separate religious courts; permanent constitution promulgated April 1973; legal education at University of Khartoum and Khartoum extension of Cairo University at Khartoum; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

ADB, ANRPC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ITU, NAM, UN,

AFDB, APC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 22 May

Independence Day, 1 January

Official name

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Democratic Republic of the Sudan

Other political or pressure groups

Buddhist clergy, Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; far-left violent revolutionary groups; labor unions

Muslim Brotherhood, formerly at odds with, the, military regime, now participates actively in government; Ansar Muslim sect and National Unionist Party do not participate directly in government

Political subdivisions

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

5 regions; regional governments were recently granted additional authority SUDAN (Continued)

Suffrage

universal over age 18

universal adult

Type

independent state since 1948

republic under military control since coup in May

Agriculture

agriculture accounts for about 23% of GNP; main crops — rice, rubber, tea, coconuts; food shortages — wheat and sugar

main crops — sorghum, millet, wheat, sesame, peanuts, beans, barley; not self-sufficient in food production; main cash crops — cotton, gum arabic, peanuts, sesame

Budget

(1980 revised estimate) revenue $782 million, expenditure $1.65 billion

(FY80) public revenue $2.0 billion, total expenditures $2.7 billion, including development expenditure of $660.0 million

Electric power

310,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.2 billion kWh produced (1980), 65 kWh per capita

310,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.2 billion kWh produced (1980), 65 kWh per capita

Exports

$1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1980); tea, rubber, petroleum products

$594.0 million (f.o.b., FY80); cotton (56%), gum arabic, peanuts, sesame; $187.3 million exports to Communist countries (FY79)

Fiscal year

1 January-31 December (starting 1973)

1 July-30 June

Fishing

catch 157,000 metric tons (1978)

GDP

$5.6 billion at current prices (1979), $270 per capita at current prices

GNP

$3.7 billion (1980 current prices), $254 per capita; real growth rate 5.5% (1980)

Imports

$2.0 billion (c.i.f., 1980); petroleum, machinery, transport equipment, sugar

$1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY80); textiles, petroleum products, vehicles, tea, wheat

Major industries

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

cotton ginning, textiles, brewery, cement, edible oils, soap, distilling, shoes, Pharmaceuticals

Major trade partners

(1977) exports — 8% Pakistan, 8% UK; imports— 12.4% Saudi Arabia, 9.8% Iran

UK, West Germany, Italy, India, China, France, Japan

Monetary conversion rate

20.95 rupees=US$l (November 1981)

1 Sudanese pound=US$2.00 (official); 0.5 Sudanese pound=US$l

Airfields

14 total, 11 usable; 11 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

80 total, 79 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 33 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

8 major transport (including 1 leased)

17 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in

Highways

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

20,000 km total; 1,576 km bituminous treated, 3,652 km gravel, 2,304 km improved earth; remainder unimproved earth and track

Inland waterways

430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

5,310 km navigable

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1982, $38.5 million, 2% of central government current budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 3,997,000; 3,138,000 fit for military service; 178,000 reach military age (18) annually

males 15-49, 4,544,000; 2,778,000 fit for military service; 209,000 reach military age (18) annually

Pipelines

refined products, 815 km

Ports

3 major, 9 minor

1 major (Port Sudan)

Railroads

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

5,516 km total; 4,800 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter gauge plantation line

Telecommunications

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

large system by African standards, but barely adequate; consists of radio relay, cables, radiocommunications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; 63,400 telephones (0.3 per 100 popl.); 5 AM, no FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station DEFENSE FORCES