Part 775

Disputes - international: all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive economic zone, which encompasses Louisa Reef, but has not publicly claimed the island ______________________________________________________________________

SRI LANKA

@Sri Lanka:Geography

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 land: 64,740 sq km water: 870 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,340 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Land use: arable land: 14% permanent crops: 15% permanent pastures : 7% forests and woodland: 32% other: 32% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 5,500 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by poaching; coastal degradation from mining activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes

@Sri Lanka:People

Population: 18,721,178 (July 1997 est.) 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 late 1996, 63,068 were housed in refugee camps in south India, another 30,000-40,000 lived outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought political asylum in the West

Age structure: 0-14 years: 28% (male 2,698,852; female 2,581,476) 15-64 years : 66% (male 6,019,140; female 6,266,311) 65 years and over: 6% (male 565,671; female 589,728) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.14% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 18.64 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 5.9 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)