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The country's economy is primarily agricultural; the emphasis is on export crops such as tea, rubber, and coconut (all plantation-grown). Cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, citronella, and tobacco are also exported. Rice, fruit, and vegetables are grown for local consumption. Sri Lanka is an exporter of amorphous graphite, its principal mineral industry. Petroleum refining is also important, and precious and semiprecious gems, mineral sands, clays, and limestones are mined. Substantial deposits of iron ore have not yet been exploited. The island's swift rivers have considerable hydroelectric potential.
Industry has been centered chiefly around the processing of agricultural products, especially the money crops : tea, rubber, and coconut. By the mid-1980s, however, textiles and garments had become Sri Lanka's biggest export. A great variety of consumer goods are also manufactured. Sri Lanka opened itself to foreign banks in 1979 and has developed an offshore insurance and banking industry. It has a persistent balance of trade problem, however, and the country is dependent on large amounts of foreign aid. Although coastal lagoons provide many sheltered harbors, only S Sri Lanka lies on the main world shipping routes. The port of Colombo, on which most of the country's railroads converge, handles most of the foreign trade. The United States, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom are the largest trading partners.
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