by the Central Intelligence Agency

“ Coastline: 1,340 km
PEOPLE Population: 15,398,000 (July 1982) , average annual growth rate 1.8%
Nationality: noun—Sri Lankan (s) ; adjective—Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions: 74% Sinhalese, 18% Tamil, 7% Moor, 1% other
Religion: 69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Christian, 8% Muslim, 0.1% other
Language: 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: 82% (1970 est.)
Labor force: 4 million; 17% unemployed ”

“ Elections: national elections, ordinarily held every six years; must be held more frequently if government loses confidence vote; last election held July 1977
Political parties and leaders: Sri Lanka Freedom Party—Sirimavo, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, president, and Sri Lanka Freedom Party—Maitwripala, Maitwripala Senanayake, president (this split in the SLFP may eventually be resolved; both sides allege to be the "official" SLFP; Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Trotskyite) , C. R. de Silva, president ”

“ UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO; is applying for membership to ASEAN
ECONOMY GNP: $3.7 billion (1980 current prices) , $254 per capita; real growth rate 5.5% (1980)
Agriculture: agriculture accounts for about 23% of GNP; main crops—rice, rubber, tea, coconuts ”