estation; soil erosion
Note:
only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major Indian Ocean sea
lanes

:Sri Lanka People

Population:
17,631,528 (July 1992), growth rate 1.2% (1992); note - about 120,000 people
fled to India in 1991 because of fighting between government forces and
Tamil insurgents; about 200,000 Tamils will be repatriated in 1992
Birth rate:
20 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
21 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
69 years male, 74 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.2 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Sri Lankan(s); adjective - Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions:
Sinhalese 74%; Tamil 18%; Moor 7%; Burgher, Malay, and Veddha 1%
Religions:
Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%
Languages:
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:
86% (male 91%, female 81%) age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
Labor force:
6,600,000; agriculture 45.9%, mining and manufacturing 13.3%, trade and
transport 12.4%, services and other 28.4% (1985 est.)
Organized labor:
about 30% of labor force, over 50% of which are employed on tea, rubber, and
coconut estates

:Sri Lanka Government

Long-form name:
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Type:
republic
Capital:
Colombo
Administrative divisions:
the administrative structure now includes 9 provinces - Central, Eastern,
North, North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, and
Western and 24 districts - Amparai, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Batticaloa,
Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla,
Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala, Mullaittivu, Nuwara Eliya,
Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Vavuniya; note - in the
future there may be only 8 provinces (combining the two provinces of North
and Eastern into one province of North Eastern) and 25 districts (adding
Kilinochchi to the existing districts)
Independence:
4 February 1948 (from UK; formerly Ceylon)
Constitution:
31 August 1978
Legal syste