In 2016 Sri Lanka continued to deal with the aftermathof its civil war that had ended in 2009. In June the gov-ernment acknowledged that some 65,000 people who

had gone missing during the decades of conflict remainedunaccounted for and approved legislation providing forthe issuance of certificates of absence to the families withmissing relatives, allowing them to finally settle issues ofinheritance, guardianship, and other related matters. InAugust a law was enacted that provided for the estab-lishment of the Office for Missing Persons, which wastasked with helping families find out what happened totheir missing loved ones.

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2015): 16.0 (world avg. 19.5).Death rate per 1,000 population (2015): 6.3 (world avg. 8.1).Life expectancy at birth (2015): male 73.1 years; female 80.2 years.

Sri Lanka

Official name: Sri Lanka PrajatantrikaSamajavadi Janarajaya (Sinhala);Ilangai Jananayaka Socialisa Kudiarasu(Tamil) (Democratic Socialist Republicof Sri Lanka).

Form of government: unitary multipartyrepublic with one legislative house(Parliament [225]).

Head of state and government: PresidentMaithripala Sirisena, assisted by PrimeMinister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Capitals: Colombo (executive and judi-cial); Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte(Colombo suburb; legislative).

Official languages: Sinhala; Tamil.1Official religion: none2.Monetary unit: Sri Lankan rupee(LKR); valuation (Sept. 1,2016) 1 U.S.$ = LKR 145.50;1 £ = LKR 193.51.

Ethnic composition (2012):

Age breakdown (2016)3:

Religious affiliation (2012):

DemographyPopulation (2016): 21,163,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi835.4, persons per sq km 322.6.

Sex distribution (2016)3: male48.41%; female 51.59%.

Population projection: (2020)21,515,000; (2030) 21,900,000.

Major cities (2012): Colombo561,314 (urban agglomeration[2014] 704,000); Kaduwela252,0414; Maharagama 196,4234;Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia 184,4684; Moratuwa 168,2804.

Urban-rural (2014):

Area and populationarea population area population

2016 2016Districts sq km estimate3 Districts sq km estimate3

Ampara 4,415 691,000Anuradhapura 7,179 905,000Badulla 2,861 854,000Batticaloa 2,854 550,000Colombo 699 2,395,000Galle 1,652 1,102,000Gampaha 1,387 2,372,000Hambantota 2,609 637,000Jaffna 1,025 602,000Kalutara 1,598 1,261,000Kandy 1,940 1,434,000Kegalle 1,693 869,000Kilinochchi 1,279 122,000

Kurunegala 4,816 1,676,000Mannar 1,996 106,000Matale 1,993 508,000Matara 1,283 845,000Monaragala 5,639 479,000Mullaitivu 2,617 95,000Nuwara Eliya 1,741 748,000Polonnaruwa 3,293 425,000Puttalam 3,072 801,000Ratnapura 3,275 1,140,000Trincomalee 2,727 404,000Vavuniya 1,967 182,000TOTAL 65,610 21,203,000

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National economyBudget (2009). Revenue: LKR 887,632,000,000 (tax revenue 86.9%, of

which VAT 30.9%, excises 14.5%; nontax revenue11.0%; foreign grants 2.1%). Expenditures: LKR1,760,939,000,000 (debt service 27.0%; transfers 15.1%;wages and salaries 10.5%).

Average household size (2009–10)6: 4.0.Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2014): rice 3,381,000, coconuts2,181,000, sugarcane 960,392, plantains 640,0007, tea340,2307, cassava 301,548, corn (maize) 241,144, naturalrubber 130,4217, eggplants 129,9107, dry onions125,2307, pumpkins, squash, and gourds 124,2607, cab-bages and other brassicas 104,5057, tomatoes 86,2307,mangoes, mangosteens, and guavas 85,0007, potatoes

82,372; livestock (number of live animals) 1,104,780 cattle, 320,690buffalo, 299,050 goats; roundwood (2015) 5,527,061 cu m, of whichfuelwood 89%; fisheries production 569,261 (from aquaculture 6%);aquatic plants production 9 (from aquaculture 100%). Mining andquarrying (2013): kaolin 10,000; graphite 4,200; sapphires 1,500,000carats; rubies 41,000 carats; diamonds, n.a. Manufacturing (valueadded in U.S.$’000,000; 2012): food, beverages, and tobacco 3,647;textiles and apparel 1,731; rubber and plastic products 493; cement,bricks, and ceramics 331. Energy production (consumption): electricity(kW-hr; 2012) 11,897,000,000 (10,409,000,000), by source (2013): fossilfuels 37.5%; renewable energy 62.5%, of which hydroelectric 56.7%,wind 3.8%, biomass 1.0%, solar 1.0%; coal (metric tons; 2011) none(95,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2011) none (14,600,000); petrole-um products (metric tons; 2012) 1,495,000 ([2011] 3,929,000).

Gross national income (GNI; 2015): U.S.$79,597,000,000 (U.S.$3,800per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$11,480 per capita).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2014): U.S.$29,502,000,000.Population economically active (2015): total 8,214,473; participation

rates: age 15 and over, male 74.7%; female 35.9%; unemployed 4.7%,of which youth (ages 15–24) 20.8%.

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 19.1%, in permanent crops 15.6%, in pasture 7.0%, forest area29.4%.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2015):

243,000 (army 82.3%, navy 6.2%, air force11.5%). Military expenditure as percentageof GDP (2015): 2.3%; per capita expendi-ture U.S.$84.

Foreign trade3, 9

Imports (2013): LKR 2,323,128,000,000 (petroleum23.9%; consumer goods 17.7%; machinery andtransport equipment 16.0%; textiles 11.4%; build-ing materials 7.5%). Major import sources:

Exports (2013): LKR 1,344,054,000,000 (textiles andgarments 43.4%; agricultural products 25.0%, ofwhich tea 14.8%; rubber products 8.5%; gemstonesand jewelry 4.3%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2009): route length (2008)900 mi, 1,449 km; passenger-km 4,572,000,000;metric ton-km cargo 114,000,000.Roads (2010): total length 70,894 mi,114,093 km (paved 15%); passenger-km(2009) 15,131,000,00010; metric ton-kmcargo, n.a. Vehicles (2010): passengercars 410,282; trucks and buses 590,200.

Education and healthLiteracy (2012): percentage of population age 10and over literate 95.7%; males literate 96.8%;females literate 94.6%.

Health (2009): physicians 13,633 (1 per 1,484 per-sons); hospital beds 68,897 (1 per 294 persons);infant mortality rate (2015) 8.8; undernourishedpopulation (2006–08) 3,900,000 (20% of totalpopulation based on the consumption of a mini-mum daily requirement of 1,800 calories).

1English has official status as “the link language” between Sinhala and Tamil. 2Buddhism has specialrecognition. 3Provisional. 4Within greater Colombo. 5Nearly all Sunni. 6Excludes 7 districts in northernand eastern Sri Lanka. 72013. 8Includes 209,189 unclassified and 471,254 unemployed. 9Imports c.i.f.;exports f.o.b. 10Buses only. 11Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Department of Census and Statistics www.statistics.gov.lk• Central Bank of Sri Lanka www.cbsl.gov.lk

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2009

in value % of total labour % of labourLKR ’000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 607,788 12.6 2,475,921 30.7Mining and quarrying 79,204 1.6Public utilities 113,118 2.3 562,234 7.0Construction 366,248 7.6Manufacturing 875,562 18.1 1,348,084 16.7Transp. and commun. 606,345 12.6 445,111 5.5Trade, hotels, restaurants 968,882 20.1 1,118,737 13.8Finance, real estate 658,753 13.7 226,660 2.8Pub. admin., defense 445,543 9.2 524,390 6.5Services 103,642 2.2 692,088 8.6Other — — 680,4438 8.48

TOTAL 4,825,085 100.0 8,073,668 100.0

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 24,38511 1,12811

Landline 2015 2,601 120

Internet users 2009 1,777 88Broadband 2015 67011 3111

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