Present Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Map
Locator map for the country of Sri Lanka. The country is an island in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of India.

National name Sri Lanka Prajatantrika Samajavadi Janarajaya/Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Area 65,610 sq km/25,332 sq mi Capital Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte Language Sinhala, Tamil (both official), English Religion Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Muslim 8%, Christian 8% Time difference GMT +5.5 Major holidays 14 January, 4 February, 1, 22 May, 30 June, 25, 31 December; variable: Eid-ul-Adha, Diwali, end of Ramadan, Good Friday, New Year (Sinhala/Tamil, April), Prophet's Birthday, Maha Sivarathri (February/March), Full Moon (monthly)

GEOGRAPHY:-
Major towns/cities Colombo, Kandy, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Jaffna, Kotte, Galle Major ports Colombo, Jaffna, Galle, Negombo, Trincomalee Physical features flat in north and around coast; hills and mountains in south and central interior Airports two international airports and four domestic airports; total passengers carried: 1.95 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 1,463 km/909 mi; total passenger journeys: 43.2 million (1998) Roads total road network: 97,286 km/60,451 mi, of which 81% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 34.2 per 1,000 people (2002 est)

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GOVERNMENT

Head of state Mahinda Rajapakse from 2005 Head of government Ratnasiri Wickremanayake from 2005 Political system liberal democracy Political executive dual executive Administrative divisions eight provinces Political parties United National Party (UNP), right of centre; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), left of centre; Democratic United National Front (DUNF), left of centre; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), Tamil autonomy (banned from 1983); Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Indian-backed Tamil-secessionist ?Tamil Tigers?; People's Liberation Front (JVP), Sinhalese-chauvinist, left wing (banned 1971?77 and 1983?88) Death penalty retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes but can be considered abolitionist in practice; date of last known execution 1976 Armed forces 111,000; plus paramilitary forces of 88,600 (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 2.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 1.3 (2001 est) Health spend (% GDP) 1.6 (2004)

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ECONOMY

Currency Sri Lankan rupee GDP (US$) 23.5 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 5.6 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 22.8 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 4,520 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 8% (2006 est) Unemployment 9.2% (2005 est) Labour force 34.3% agriculture, 23.4% industry, 42.3% services (2003) Foreign debt (US$) 10.8 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners USA, India, UK, China, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Iran Resources gemstones, graphite, iron ore, monazite, rutile, uranium, iemenite sands, limestone, salt, clay Industries food processing, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining, leather goods, chemicals, rubber, plastics, tourism Exports clothing and textiles, tea (world's largest exporter and third-largest producer), precious and semi-precious stones, coconuts and coconut products, rubber. Principal market: USA 31.1% (2005) Imports mineral products, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, food and live animals, beverages, construction materials. Principal source: India 16.7% (2005) Arable land 14% (2006 est) Agricultural products rice, tea, rubber, coconuts; livestock rearing (cattle, buffaloes, pigs, and poultry); fishing

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POPULATION

Population 20,912,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.8% (2005?10) Population density (per sq km) 319 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 21 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0?14 24%, 15?59 65%, 60+ 11% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 74% Sinhalese, about 18% Tamil, and 7% Moors or Muslims (concentrated in east); the Tamil community is divided between the long-settled ?Sri Lankan Tamils? (11% of the population), who reside in northern and eastern coastal areas, and the more recent immigrant ?Indian Tamils? (7%), who settled in the Kandyan highlands during the 19th and 20th centuries Life expectancy 73 (men); 78 (women) (2005?10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 14 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 95% (men); 90% (women) (2004 est)

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HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 4.3 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 2.7 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15?49) <0.1>AIDS deaths <500>Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 99 (urban); 72 (rural) (2002)

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COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 6 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 16.2 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 215 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 125 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 2.7 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 1.5 (2005 est)

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CHRONOLOGY

c. 550 BC Arrival of the Sinhalese, led by Vijaya, from northern India, displacing long-settled Veddas. 5th century BC Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura founded by King Pandukabaya. c. 250?210 BC Buddhism, brought from India, became established in Sri Lanka. AD 992 Downfall of Anuradhapura kingdom, defeated by South Indian Colas. 1070 Overthrow of Colas by Vijayabahu I and establishment of the Sinhalese kingdom of Polonnaruva, which survived for more than two centuries before a number of regional states arose. late 15th century Kingdom of Kandy established in central highlands. 1505 Arrival of Portuguese navigator Loren篠de Almeida, attracted by spice trade developed by Arab merchants who had called the island Serendip. 1597?1618 Portuguese controlled most of Sri Lanka, with the exception of Kandy. 1658 Dutch conquest of Portuguese territories. 1795?98 British conquest of Dutch territories. 1802 Treaty of Amiens recognized island as British colony of Ceylon. 1815 British won control of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule whole island. 1830s Immigration of south Indian Hindu Tamil labourers to work central coffee plantations. 1880s Tea and rubber become chief cash crops after blight ended production of coffee. 1919 Formation of the Ceylon National Congress to campaign for self rule; increasing conflicts between Sinhalese majority community and Tamil minority. 1931 Universal adult suffrage introduced for elected legislature and executive council in which power was shared with British. 1948 Ceylon achieved independence from Britain within Commonwealth, with Don Senanayake of conservative United National Party (UNP) as prime minister. 1949 Indian Tamils disenfranchised. 1956 Sinhala established as official language. 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of assassinated prime minister Solomon Bandaranaike, won general election and formed an SLFP government, which nationalized oil industry. 1971 Sinhalese Marxist uprising, led by students and People's Liberation Army (JVP). 1972 Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka proclaimed; Buddhism given ?foremost place? in new state, antagonizing Tamils. 1976 Tamil United Liberation Front formed to fight for independent Tamil state (?Eelam?) in north and east Sri Lanka. 1978 Presidential constitution adopted by new free-market government headed by Junius Jayawardene of UNP. 1982 Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte was designated the new national capital, replacing Colombo. 1983 Ethnic riots as Tamil guerrilla violence escalated; state of emergency imposed; more than 1,000 Tamils killed by Sinhalese mobs. 1987 President Jayawardene and Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi signed Colombo Accord aimed at creating new provincial councils, disarming Tamil militants (?Tamil Tigers?), and stationing 7,000-strong Indian Peacekeeping Force. Violence continued despite ceasefire policed by Indian troops. 1988 Left-wing JVP guerrillas campaigned against Indo-Sri Lankan peace pact. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa elected president. 1989 Dingiri Banda Wijetunga became prime minister. Leaders of Tamil Tigers and banned Sinhala extremist JVP assassinated. 1990 Indian peacekeeping force withdrawn. Violence continued, with death toll of over a thousand a month. 1991 Sri Lankan army killed 2,552 Tamil Tigers at Elephant Pass in northern Jaffna region. New party, Democratic National United Front (DUNF), formed by former members of UNP. 1992 Several hundred Tamil Tigers rebels killed in army offensive, code-named ?Strike Force Two?. 1993 President Premadasa assassinated by Tamil Tiger terrorists; succeeded by Dingiri Banda Wijetunge. 1994 UNP narrowly defeated in general election; Chandrika Kumaratunga became prime minister in SLFP-led left-of-centre coalition (People's Alliance). Peace talks opened with Tamil Tigers. Kumaratunga elected first female president; her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became prime minister. 1995 Renewed bombing campaign by Tamil Tigers. Major offensive drove out Tamil Tigers from Jaffna city. 1996 State of emergency extended nationwide after Tamils bombed capital. 1998 Tamil Tigers outlawed after bombing of Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site. Over 1,300 Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels died in renewed fighting in the north. Tamil Tigers captured strategic northern town of Kilinochchi; more than 600 government troops killed. 1999 Government lost large amount of territory, including military bases, to Tamil Tigers. President Kumaratunga was re-elected, just days after she survived attack by Tamil suicide bomber. 2000 Terrorist activity continued; government forces suffered worst setback in 17-year civil war when forced to surrender Pallai, key military base, to Tamil Tigers. Prime Minister Bandaranaike died two months after resigning position because of poor health; replaced by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. Elections re-established president, prime minister, and ruling party. Tamil Tigers announced month-long ceasefire; government did not reciprocate. 2002 Indefinite ceasefire between government and Tamil Tigers mediated by Norwegian government; guerrilla group conceded to autonomy rather than separate state for minority Tamils. 2003 President Kumaratunga suspended parliament, sacked three government ministers, and declared brief state of emergency after accusing Prime Minister Wickremesinghe of making too many concessions in peace negotiations with Tamil Tiger separatist forces. 2004 Tamil Tiger offensive regained control of the east. In first such incident since 2001, suicide bomber struck in Colombo. Massive tidal waves (tsunami) devastated coastal communities; more than 30,000 people killed. 2005 Dispute ensued over deal reached with Tamil Tigers on division of nearly $3 billion in tsunami aid between Sinhalas, Tamils, and Muslims. State of emergency imposed after foreign minister assassinated by suspected Tamil Tiger. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse won presidential elections; most Tamils in Tamil-Tiger-controlled areas boycotted poll. 2006 Rioting and explosions in Trincomalee left 16 people dead during marked escalation in violence. In gross violation of 2002 ceasefire, suicide bomb attacks and fighting between military and Tamil Tigers continued. In worst fighting since 2002, clashes in northeast killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. Government claimed it had regained strategic Trincomalee harbour. Peace talks resumed in Geneva but failed. 2007 Following weeks of heavy fighting, military captured Tamil Tiger stronghold of Vakarai; later cleared other eastern coastal areas; tens of thousands fled area. Tamil Tigers launched first confirmed air raid, striking military base near international airport. Following second air raid, two international airlines suspended flights to the country; tourism declined dramatically. Government announced it had driven Tigers from their final jungle stronghold in the east.

Sri Lanka Flag
Green represents the Islamic minority. Orange stands for the Hindu Tamils. The sword denotes authority. The four pipul leaves symbolize Buddhism. Effective date: 7 September 1978.