1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
65,500 km2; 25% cultivated; 44% forested; 31% waste, urban, and other WATER
Coastline
1,340 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (fishing 200 nm, plus pearling in the Gulf of Mannar; 200 nm exclusive economic zone)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
74% Sinhalese, 18% Tamil, 7% Moor, 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
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
Literacy
82% (1970 est.)
Nationality
noun—Sri Lankan(s); adjective—Sri Lankan
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%
Religion
69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Christian, 8% Muslim, 0.1% other
Government
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
Capital
Colombo
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 Party—Sirimavo, 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
Government leader
President J. R. JAYEWARDENE
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
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, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO; is applying for membership to ASEAN
National holiday
Independence Day, 22 May
Official name
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Other political or pressure groups
Buddhist clergy, Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; far-left violent revolutionary groups; labor unions
Political subdivisions
9 provinces, 24 administrative districts, and four categories of semiautonomous elected local governments
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
independent state since 1948
Economy
Agriculture
agriculture accounts for about 23% of GNP; main crops—rice, rubber, tea, coconuts; food shortages—wheat and sugar
Budget
(1980 revised estimate) revenue $782 million, expenditure $1.65 billion
Electric power
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
Fiscal year
1 January-31 December (starting 1973)
Fishing
catch 157,000 metric tons (1978)
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
Major industries
processing of rubber, tea, and other agricultural commodities; consumer goods manufacture
Major trade partners
(1977) exports—8% Pakistan, 8% UK; imports—12.4% Saudi Arabia, 9.8% Iran
Monetary conversion rate
20.95 rupees=US$1 (November 1981)
Communications
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
Civil air
8 major transport (including 1 leased)
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
Inland waterways
430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft
Ports
3 major, 9 minor
Railroads
1,496 km total (1980); all broad gauge (1.435m); 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned
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
Military and Security
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