世界各国
Sri Lanka
Introduction to Sri Lanka
The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa 1000 A.D.) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka 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. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam began a ceasefire in December 2001, with Norway brokering peace negotiations.
Government
Capital:
Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital
Independence:
4 February 1948 (from UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
Economy
Economy overview:
In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2003, plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in the early 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%, but 2001 saw the first contraction in the country's history, -1.4%, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Growth recovered to 4.0% in 2002 and 5.2% in 2003. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about id=mce_marker billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 19.9%
industry: 26.3%
services: 53.8% (2004 est.)
Agriculture products:
rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
Industries:
rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
Transportation
Waterways:
160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2004)
Pipelines:
crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)
Ports and harbors:
Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
Merchant marine:
total: 18 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 120,924 GRT/173,604 DWT
by type: cargo 14, container 2, petroleum tanker 2
registered in other countries: 4 (2003 est.)
foreign-owned: Germany 8, Singapore 1
Airports:
14 (2003 est.)