The 2002 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Waterways: 2,000 km
Ports and harbors: none
Airports: 49 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 7 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 42 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 10 (2001)
Military Chad
Military branches: Armed Forces (including National Army, Air Force, and Gendarmerie), Rapid Intervention Force, National and Nomadic Guard (GNNT), Presidential Security Guard, Police
Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,881,769 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 985,094 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 82,003 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $31 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.9% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Chad
Disputes - international: Lake Chad Commission urges signatories Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region, the site of continuing armed clashes; Nigeria requests and Chad rejects redemarcation of boundary, which lacks clear demarcation in sections and has caused several cross-border incidents; Chadian rebels from Aozou reside in Libya
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Sri Lanka
Introduction Sri Lanka
Background: Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1802. As Ceylon it became independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester.
Geography Sri Lanka
Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
Geographic coordinates: 7 00 N, 81 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total: 65,610 sq km water: 870 sq km land: 64,740 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime claims: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 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% permanent crops: 16% other: 71% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 6,510 sq km (1998 est.)
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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, 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: 19,576,783 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 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.6% (male 2,559,246; female 2,446,393) 15-64 years: 67.7% (male 6,446,320; female 6,802,515) 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 628,398; female 693,911) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.85% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 16.36 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 15.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.93 children born/woman (2002 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.)
Government Sri Lanka
Country name: conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka conventional short form: Sri Lanka former: Serendib, Ceylon
Government type: republic
Capital: Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces; Central, North Central, North
Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western; note -
North Eastern province may have been divided in two - Northern and Eastern
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since 12 November 1994); note - Ranil WICKREMASINGHE (since 9 December 2001) is the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered both the chief of state and head of government, in contrast to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and the prime minister when both offices exist head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA