Sri Lanka 
Facts
Population: 20,926,315
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 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.3% (male 2,596,295/female 2,495,949)
15-64 years: 67.9% (male 6,947,310/female 7,259,271)
65 years and over: 7.8% (male 765,507/female 861,983) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 0.982% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 17 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 6.01 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: -1.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.957 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.888 male(s)/female
total population: 0.971 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 19.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.8 years
male: 72.81 years
female: 76.88 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 3,500 (2001 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.).
Nationality: noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan.
Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data).
Religions: Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data).
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: 90.7%
male: 92.3%
female: 89.1% (2001 census).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $95.55 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 7.5% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,700 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 17.3%
industry: 27.3%
services: 55.3% (2006 est.).
Labor force: 7.5 million (2006 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 34.3%
industry: 25.3%
services: 40.4% (30 June 2006 est.).
Population below poverty line: 22% (2002 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 39.7% (FY03/04).
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.1% (2006 est.).
Unemployment rate: 7.6% (2006 est.).
Budget: revenues: $5.61 billion
expenditures: $8.39 billion; including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (FY07 est.).
Agriculture - products: rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef; fish.
Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, tobacco and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, banking; clothing, textiles; cement, petroleum refining.
Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2006 est.).
Electricity - production: 8.766 billion kWh (2005).
Electricity - consumption: 8.17 billion kWh (2005).
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2005).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2005).
Exports: $7.076 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Exports - commodities: textiles and apparel, tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products, rubber manufactures, fish.
Exports - partners: US 31.1%, UK 12.2%, India 8.9%, Germany 4.3% (2005).
Imports: $9.655 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment.
Imports - partners: India 20.7%, Singapore 8.3%, Hong Kong 7.3%, China 7.1%, Iran 5.9%, Malaysia 4.4%, Japan 4.3% (2005).
Debt - external: $12.23 billion (2006 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $808 million (2005).
Currency (code): Sri Lankan rupee (LKR).
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 103.99 (2006), 100.498 (2005), 101.194 (2004), 96.521 (2003), 95.662 (2002).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
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
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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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