Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
1,340 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:
tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest
monsoon (June to October)

Terrain:
mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central
interior

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m

Natural resources:
limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay,
hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 13.96%
permanent crops: 15.24%
other: 70.8% (2005)

Irrigated land:
7,430 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards:
occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by
poaching and urbanization; coastal degradation from mining
activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being
polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff; waste disposal; air
pollution in Colombo

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:
strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

People Sri Lanka

Population:
20,222,240
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 and more than 200,000 Tamils
have sought refuge in the West (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.1% (male 2,488,689/female 2,379,233)
15-64 years: 68.6% (male 6,727,399/female 7,140,751)
65 years and over: 7.3% (male 687,842/female 798,326) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 29.8 years
male: 28.7 years
female: 30.9 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.78% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
15.51 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
6.52 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
-1.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female