Sri Lanka 
Facts
Population:
19,408,635 (July 2001 est.)
note:
since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of mid-1999, approximately 66,000 were housed in 133 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West
Age structure:
0-14 years:
25.99% (male 2,578,618; female 2,464,928)
15-64 years:
67.39% (male 6,369,881; female 6,708,852)
65 years and over:
6.62% (male 615,253; female 671,103) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.87% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
16.58 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.92 male(s)/female
total population:
0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
16.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
72.09 years
male:
69.58 years
female:
74.73 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.95 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.07% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
7,500 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
490 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Sri Lankan(s)
adjective:
Sri Lankan
Ethnic groups:
Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
Religions:
Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
Languages:
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note:
English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
90.2%
male:
93.4%
female:
87.2% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $62.7 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.6% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,250 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
21%
industry:
19%
services:
60% (1998)
Population below poverty line:
22% (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
1.8%
highest 10%:
39.7% (1995-96 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.5% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
6.6 million (1998)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate:
8.8% (1999 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$3 billion
expenditures:
$3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries:
processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
Industrial production growth rate:
4% (1999)
Electricity - production:
6.026 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
29.9%
hydro:
70.1%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
5.604 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
Exports:
$5.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products
Exports - partners:
US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%, Germany 5%, Japan 4% (1999)
Imports:
$6.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, textiles, petroleum, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Japan 10%, India 9%, Hong Kong 8%, Singapore 8%, South Korea 6% (1999)
Debt - external:
$9.9 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$577 million (1998)
Currency:
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
Currency code:
LKR
Exchange rates:
Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 83.506 (January 2001), 77.005 (2000), 70.635 (1999), 64.450 (1998), 58.995 (1997), 55.271 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 3 
Displaying 1 to 7 of 20 items.
(Independent), Colombo
http://www.colombopage.com/
(Independent), Colombo
http://www.dailymirror.lk
(Government-owned), Colombo
http://www.dailynews.lk
Davasa
(Sinhalase-language, independent), Colombo
(Independent, Sinhalase-language), Colombo
http://www.divaina.com
Eelanatham
(Pro-LTTE), Skanthapuram
(Independent), Colombo
http://www.island.lk
Sri Lanka in the News
1 2 3 4 5
Displaying 5 to 8 of 18 items.
World Press Review correspondent Anuradha Herath interviews a former child soldier from the Tamil rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Tekla Szymanski profiles Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Soma Thera.
A power struggle between Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister has undermined a fragile peace process between the government and Tamil rebels, just when a breakthrough in the 20-year conflict seemed imminent.
Sri Lanka’s president unleashed a storm of protest when she dissolved Parliament, fired three Cabinet ministers, deployed troops around the capital, and declared a state of emergency. Here a popular satirical columnist from Colombo's independent Daily Mirror responds to news of the crisis.
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