Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, island republic in the 
Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India, a 
member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Sri Lanka is 
separated from India by the Palk Strait and Gulf of 
Mannar. Lying between the two nations is a chain of tiny 
islands known as Adam's Bridge. Sri Lanka is somewhat 
pear-shaped, with its apex in the north. The greatest 
length from north to south is about 440 km (about 273 
mi); the greatest width is about 220 km (about 137 mi). 
The total area of Sri Lanka is 65,610 sq km (25,332 sq 
mi). The administrative capital of Sri Lanka is Sri 
Jayavardhanapura (Kotte); and Colombo is the largest 
city.

Sri Lanka's coast, particularly the west, south, and 
southeast, is palm-fringed and indented by lagoons and 
inlets. The more rugged northeastern coast contains 
Trincomalee Harbor, considered one of the best natural 
harbors in the world. On the southwestern coast other 
harbors include the largely artificial one at Colombo 
and one at Galle.


Land and Resources 
An outstanding feature of the topography of Sri Lanka is 
a mountainous mass in the south central part of the 
country, the highest point of which is the peak of 
Pidurutalagala (2524 m/8281 ft). In the upland area are 
two plateaus, Nuwara Eliya and Horton Plains, which are 
major centers of commercial tea plantations. The 
plateaus are noted for their cool, healthful climate. 
North of the mountains, and extending south, is an arid 
and gently rolling plain known as the dry zone.

Rivers and streams that are broken by rapids are 
especially numerous in the mountainous south central 
region. The longest river is the Mahaweli Ganga, which 
empties into the Indian Ocean south of Trincomalee. 
Other rivers include the Kelani, the mouth of which is 
near Colombo; the Kalu, which reaches the sea near 
Kalutara on the southwestern coast; and the Aruvi Aru, 
which flows northwest across the dry zone to a point 
near Mannar.

Climate 
Because Sri Lanka is situated near the equator, the 
climate is generally hot and humid. The hill and 
mountain areas, however, are cool, and the humidity is 
relatively lower in the dry zone. The average annual 
temperature is 32.2° C (about 90° F) in the lowlands and 
21.1° C (about 70° F) in the higher mountainous regions.

Precipitation is characterized by wide seasonal and 
regional variations. The monsoon season in the southwest 
is from May to November, at which time the rainfall is 
exceptionally heavy. In the northern dry zone the main 
precipitation of about 1016 mm (about 40 in) annually 
occurs during the monsoon season, which begins in the 
first week of November. Most crops in the dry zone, 
however, require irrigation. The hills and the lowlands 
of the southwestern section, which is known as the wet 
zone, normally have some rainfall throughout the year, 
but peaks occur in May and June and in October and 
November.

Natural Resources 
The natural resources of Sri Lanka are chiefly 
agricultural, but most of the land is not easily 
cultivated. The mineral deposits of the country are 
limited.

Plants and Animals 
Sri Lanka is noted for the beauty and variety of its 
vegetation. Dense tropical jungles occupy extensive 
areas in the southwest, and the upper mountain slopes 
are thickly forested. Many varieties of palm, including 
the areca, coconut, and palmyra, flourish in the 
lowlands along the coast. Mangroves and screw pines 
abound in coastal areas. Numerous varieties of timber 
trees, notably mahogany and many species of 
resin-yielding fruit trees, are indigenous to the wet 
zone. Among the timber trees that are common in the 
drier sections of the island are ebony and satinwood. 
Ferns, water hyacinths, orchids, acacias, eucalyptus 
trees, and cypresses flourish in various regions.

The animal life of Sri Lanka is diverse and includes 
many species that may be in danger of extinction, such 
as the cheetah, leopard, several species of monkey, and 
elephant. The island also contains numerous species of 
birds and reptiles.

Population 
About 74 percent of the population of Sri Lanka is of 
Sinhalese descent. The largest minority groups are the 
Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils, which together 
account for about 18 percent of the population. The 
remaining population includes the descendants of Moors 
(Arabs), Burghers (Dutch), Malays, and Veddas.

Population Characteristics 
The population of Sri Lanka (1995 estimate) is 
18,346,000, yielding an overall population density of 
about 280 persons per sq km (about 724 per sq mi).

Political Divisions 
Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces and 24 
administrative districts. Each district is headed by an 
appointed district minister.

Principal Cities 
Less than one-quarter of Sri Lanka's population lives in 
urban communities. Colombo had a population (1990 
estimate) of 615,000. Most of the foreign trade of the 
island is routed through Colombo, and the city has been 
an important fueling station for ships that pass through 
the Suez Canal. Other important cities are the rapidly 
expanding suburb of Colombo, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, 
with a population of 196,000; the seaport of Jaffna, 
129,000; Sri Jayavardhanapura, the administrative 
capital, 109,000; the ancient capital city of Kandy, 
104,000; and the tea-producing community of Galle, 
84,000.

Religion 
Buddhism, which was introduced into Sri Lanka in the 3rd 
century BC, is the prevailing religious faith. As 
practiced in Sri Lanka, Buddhism exhibits elements of 
both the Hindu and Islamic traditions. About 69 percent 
of the population is Buddhist, 15 percent is Hindu, 8 
percent is Christian, and 8 percent is Muslim.

Language 
The official language of Sri Lanka is Sinhala, or 
Sinhalese, spoken by more than 70 percent of the 
population. Tamil, a Dravidian language of southern 
India, is spoken by people living in the northern and 
eastern provinces. English, the official language of the 
country until 1957, is still widely used.

Education 
In Sri Lanka schooling is compulsory for children from 5 
to 15 years of age. Free education to the university 
level is provided by the state. In the late 1980s, Sri 
Lanka had about 10,200 elementary and secondary schools, 
of which most were government institutions. The state 
schools were staffed by about 140,100 teachers and 
contained more than 3.8 million pupils. The University 
of Sri Jayewardenepura in Colombo, founded as the 
University of Ceylon in 1942 and renamed in 1978, is one 
of the country's major institutions of higher education. 
In the late 1980s more than 34,000 students were 
enrolled in the country's ten universities.

Culture 
Religion plays an important role in Sri Lanka; a revival 
of Buddhism was associated with the rise of Sinhalese 
nationalism. Most public holidays are based on religious 
festivals. The annual torchlight temple procession, or 
Perahara, in which ornamentally covered elephants and 
hundreds of dancers participate, draws thousands of 
devotees. Pilgrimages also play an important role here. 
The most important pilgrimage is to the top of Adam's 
Peak. Muslims believe that Adam and Eve lived here after 
they left the Garden of Eden. Buddhists visit a rock on 
the peak that they believe contains one of Buddha's 
footprints. Another important pilgrimage is to the 
Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, where it is believed that 
one of Buddha's teeth is enshrined.

Sinhalese society, although Buddhist, is stratified 
along caste lines. Ceylon Tamil society reproduces the 
caste features found in India, although in modified 
form.

The Colombo National Museum Library (1870), 
incorporating the collection of the Government Oriental 
Library, is the largest in Sri Lanka. The oldest library 
is the Department of National Archives in Colombo, which 
contains the official records of the Dutch 
Administration from 1640 to 1796, the British 
Administration from 1796 to 1948, and the independent 
nation from 1948 to the present.

Middle Stone Age implements such as bones and grinding 
stones have been unearthed in the Bandarawela region in 
the south; some late Stone Age tools of ground quartz 
were discovered nearby. Early Buddhist pottery and iron 
artifacts have been found throughout the country. Hindu 
burial relics dating from the 3rd century BC have been 
discovered in the North-Western Province. The National 
Museums of Sri Lanka, with branches located in Colombo, 
Kandy, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Galle, and Trincomalee, 
contain collections of archaeological finds and 
historical documents of the country.

Economy 
Sri Lanka's economy is predominantly based on 
agriculture. Most of the people are subsistence farmers, 
who make a living by growing rice on their small plots. 
A large export trade in tea, rubber, and coconuts is the 
dominant commercial activity; most businesses engaged in 
producing these goods were nationalized in the middle 
and late 1970s. The government also controlled banking 
and insurance, as well as mining and the manufacture of 
such basic goods as fertilizers, textiles, cement, and 
petroleum. Consumer goods manufacturing and retail 
businesses remained in private hands. In the late 1970s 
the government launched a new program to accelerate 
economic growth that included the elimination of various 
state monopolies to allow for more private-sector 
competition; in the mid-1980s the government sought to 
promote foreign investment in export-oriented 
industries. Beginning in the late 1980s high 
unemployment and ethnic violence dimmed Sri Lanka's 
economic prospects. Attempts to privatize the economy 
began in the 1990s.

Agriculture 
About 29 percent of Sri Lanka's land area is under 
cultivation. Tea covers only 12 percent of the 
cultivated acreage but accounts for about one-fourth of 
the country's export earnings. Tea, rubber, and coconuts 
together made up nearly 35 percent of Sri Lanka's export 
earnings in the early 1990s.

Rice is the basic food of the people and the island's 
principal crop. More acreage is devoted to the 
cultivation of rice than to any other crop; the annual 
output in the early 1990s was 2.3 million metric tons. 
Vegetables are grown in small amounts and are mostly 
cultivated for private consumption. Considerable 
quantities of sugar, wheat, and rice are imported.

Animal husbandry is of comparatively little importance 
to the economy of Sri Lanka. In the late 1980s the 
island contained about 1.6 million cattle, 896,000 
buffaloes, 503,000 goats, and 9 million chickens. Pigs 
and sheep are also raised.

Forestry and Fishing 
Local timber needs are satisfied by government-owned 
woodlands. The annual timber harvest in the late 1980s 
was about 8.8 million cu m (about 311 million cu ft); 
more than 90 percent of the harvested wood was used for 
fuel. The fishing industry is restricted to a small 
coastal fringe and contributes relatively little to the 
national economy; the annual catch in the early 1990s 
amounted to about 200,000 metric tons.

Mining 
Although mineral resources are generally limited, Sri 
Lanka is an important source of high-grade lump 
amorphous graphite, used in the manufacture of carbon 
brushes for electric motors. Output of natural graphite 
in the late 1980s reached 7450 metric tons annually. 
Ilmenite, rutile, and zircon are also mined for 
commercial uses. Limestone is mined for a 
government-owned cement factory at Jaffna. Other 
minerals include salt, mica, kaolin (a fine clay), glass 
sands, and precious and semiprecious stones.

Manufacturing 
Mechanized industry is relatively limited in Sri Lanka, 
and in the late 1980s it accounted for only about 16 
percent of the country's yearly gross domestic product. 
The more important industrial enterprises, most of which 
are entirely or partly government owned, produce such 
goods as steel, tires, cement, textiles, clothing, 
sugar, cigarettes, paper and leather goods, electronic 
equipment, refined petroleum, chemicals, ceramics, and 
processed food.

Energy 
In the early 1990s Sri Lanka had an installed 
electricity generating capacity of about 1.3 million 
kilowatts, and an annual production of about 3.5 billion 
kilowatt-hours. More than 80 percent of the power was 
produced by hydroelectric facilities.

Currency and Foreign Trade 
The Sri Lankan rupee, consisting of 100 cents, is the 
monetary unit (45 rupees equal U.S.$1; 1992). In the 
late 1980s annual imports cost $2 billion and exports 
earned $1.5 billion. The chief exports were tea and 
rubber, followed by coconut products, clothing, 
graphite, and precious and semiprecious stones. 
Foodstuffs, mainly rice, flour, and sugar, make up a 
significant share of imports. Other imports include 
petroleum products, machinery, and transportation 
equipment. Sri Lanka's chief trading partners are Japan, 
Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Iran, and 
India.

Transportation 
A network of about 27,200 km (about 16,900 mi) of paved 
roads connects most regions of the island; the 
best-developed road system is that in the plantation 
areas. Operated railroad track totals about 1450 km 
(about 900 mi).

Sri Lanka has three international airports. The 
government-owned airline, Air Lanka, provides domestic 
and international service.

Communications 
All electronic communications in Sri Lanka are 
government controlled. The country has about 15 daily 
newspapers with a combined daily circulation of more 
than 780,000. In the late 1980s the largest daily was 
the Dinamina, published in Colombo. During this period 
Sri Lanka had more than 125,000 telephones, 3.2 million 
radios, and 500,000 television sets. Television 
broadcasting began in Colombo in 1979.

Labor
 In the late 1980s about 6.6 million Sri Lankans were 
economically active, mostly unskilled workers. About 
one-third of all workers were organized in some 1500 
trade unions. Progressive labor legislation has been 
enacted, covering minimum wage, health, and welfare, but 
enforcement has proven difficult because of staff 
shortages.

Government 
Sri Lanka is an independent member of the Commonwealth 
of Nations, governed under a constitution adopted in 
1978.

Executive 
The chief of state and head of government of Sri Lanka 
is a president, who is elected directly to a term of six 
years. The president appoints the prime minister and 
members of the cabinet, and may dismiss parliament at 
will.

Legislature 
According to the 1978 Sri Lanka constitution, the 
unicameral parliament is the "legislative power of the 
people." The 225 members of parliament are elected 
directly by a system of proportional representation.

Political Parties 
The major political parties in Sri Lanka are the 
People's Alliance, a leftist coalition group, and the 
United National party (UNP), a democratic socialist 
party. Other parties include the Sri Lanka Freedom party 
(SLFP) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Local Government 
Sri Lanka is divided into 24 administrative districts. 
ach district is presided over by an appointed district 
minister. Other local government units include 12 
municipal councils and 39 urban councils.

Judiciary 
The Sri Lankan judiciary consists of a supreme court, 
the court of appeal, the high court, district courts, 
magistrates' courts, and primary courts. The chief 
justice of the supreme court and two subordinate 
justices appointed by the president make up the Judicial 
Service Commission, which has appellate and review 
powers in criminal cases and exclusive powers in the 
most serious criminal offenses.

Defense 
In the late 1980s the armed forces in Sri Lanka were 
made up of an army of 40,000 people, a navy of 5500, and 
an air force of 3700.Now more than 100,000.

Health and Welfare 
In the late 1980s Sri Lanka had about 2340 physicians 
and 45,800 hospital beds. Average life expectancy at 
birth was 72 years for women and 67 years for men. The 
infant mortality rate declined from 63 deaths per 1000 
live births in the mid-1960s to 31 in the late 1980s.

History 
According to Hindu legend the greater part of Sri Lanka 
was conquered in prehistoric times by Ramachandra, the 
seventh incarnation of the supreme deity Vishnu. The 
written history of the country begins with the chronicle 
known as the Mahavamsa. This work was started in the 6th 
century AD and provides a virtually unbroken narrative 
up to 1815. The Mahavamsa was compiled by a succession 
of Buddhist monks. Because it often aims to glorify or 
to degrade certain periods or reigns, it is not a wholly 
reliable source despite its wealth of historical 
material.

Ancient Sinhala 
The Mahavamsa relates that the island was conquered in 
504 BC by Vijaya, a Hindu prince from northeast India. 
After subjugating the aboriginal inhabitants, a people 
now known as Veddas, Vijaya married a native princess, 
encouraged emigration from the mainland, and made 
himself ruler of the entire island. However, the realm 
(called Sinhala after Vijaya's patrimonial name) that 
was inherited by his successors consisted of the arid 
region lying to the north of the south-central mountain 
system.

Members of the dynasty founded by Vijaya reigned over 
Sinhala for several centuries. During this period, and 
particularly after the adoption in the 3rd century  BC 
of Buddhism as the national religion, the Sinhalese 
created a highly developed civilization. Extant evidence 
of their engineering skill and architectural 
achievements includes remnants of vast irrigation 
projects, many ruined cities, notably the ancient 
capital Anuradhapura, and numerous ruined shrines called 
dasobas.

Foreign Control 
From the late 3rd century AD to the middle of the 12th 
century, Sinhala was dominated by Tamil kings and by a 
succession of invaders from southern India. Native 
princes regained power briefly in the late 12th century 
and again in the 13th century. From 1408 to 1438 Chinese 
forces occupied the island of Sinhala, which had been 
partitioned into a number of petty kingdoms.

In 1517 the Portuguese, having established friendly 
relations with one of the native monarchs, founded a 
fort and trading post at Colombo. Their sphere of 
influence expanded steadily thereafter, mainly as a 
result of successful wars of conquest, and by the end of 
the 16th century they controlled large sections of the 
island. Consequently, in 1638 and 1639, when the Dutch 
launched the first of a series of attacks on Portuguese 
strongholds in the island, they found numerous allies 
among the natives. The struggle ended in 1658 with the 
Dutch gaining control of most of the island, although 
the kingdom of Kandy remained an independent entity.

British Rule 
In 1795, following the occupation of the Netherlands by 
France, the British government dispatched an 
expeditionary force against Sri Lanka. The Dutch 
capitulated early in the next year, and in 1798 the 
British made all the island, except the kingdom of 
Kandy, a crown colony. By the provisions of the 1802 
Treaty of Amiens, which terminated the second phase of 
the Napoleonic Wars, the country was formally ceded to 
Great Britain. The kingdom of Kandy was also occupied in 
1803 and annexed to the crown colony in 1815. The 
British period of rule was marked by abortive native 
rebellions in 1817, 1843, and 1848. Tea and rubber 
estates were developed. In this period violent 
social-religious struggles between the Sinhalese 
peasants, mostly Buddhists, and the moneylenders and 
traders, chiefly Muslims, also occurred, and all the 
native peoples struggled continuously for representative 
government and national freedom. The first substantial 
victory in the struggle for self-government came after 
more than one century, when, in 1931, Great Britain 
promulgated a new constitution that granted the 
indigenous people semiautonomous control over national 
affairs.

During World War II (1939-1945) Sri Lanka was an 
important base of operations in the Allied offensive 
against the Japanese and a major source of rubber, 
foodstuffs, and other materials vital to the war effort.

Independence 
On February 4, 1948, the colony became an independent 
member of the Commonwealth of Nations; Sir Henry Moore 
was installed as governor-general and D. S. Senanayake, 
leader of the United National party (UNP), became prime 
minister. An ancient Sinhalese flag was adopted as the 
flag of the new state, known then as Ceylon.

The foreign ministers of the Commonwealth of Nations 
assembled at Colombo in January 1950, and drafted a 
tentative plan for the economic development of Southeast 
Asia. As finally formulated, the Colombo Plan allocated 
nearly $340 million of Commonwealth funds for a variety 
of projects designed to advance the economy, notably 
irrigation works and hydroelectric plants.

When D. S. Senanayake died in 1952, his son, Dudley 
Senanayake, who belonged to the same party, was named 
prime minister. In 1954 Ceylon declined to join the 
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which was formed as 
a defensive alliance by the United States, Great 
Britain, and six other nations. On December 14, 1955, 
Ceylon was admitted to membership in the United Nations.

The Bandaranaikes 
The UNP lost the elections held in April 1956, and 
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, leader of the 
Sri Lanka Freedom party, became prime minister. The 
country subsequently adopted a policy of neutrality in 
the disputes between the Communist and non-Communist 
countries. The United States agreed in early 1958 to 
provide the country with technical assistance and a 
grant of about $780,000 for economic projects. The Union 
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Ceylon signed 
trade and economic agreements at about the same time. 
Shortly afterward the country accepted a loan of about 
$10.5 million from China.
On September 25, 1959, Prime Minister Bandaranaike was 
shot by a Buddhist monk and died the following day. In 
the general elections of March 19, 1960, the UNP won the 
greatest number of votes, and two days later Dudley 
Senanayake again became prime minister in a minority 
cabinet, which quickly lost parliamentary confidence. 
New general elections held on July 20 resulted in the 
victory of the Sri Lanka Freedom party now led by 
Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of the late prime minister, 
and she was sworn in as prime minister the next day.
On December 31, 1960, a bill was passed making Sinhalese 
the only official language of the country. 
Representatives of the Tamil-speaking minority led mass 
demonstrations against the measure in early 1961. To 
cope with the situation, a state of emergency was 
declared, the Tamil Federal party was forbidden to 
operate, and strikes were declared illegal. 
Sinhalese-Tamil relations continued to be strained until 
January 1966, when Tamil was made the official 
administrative language in the northern and eastern 
parts of the island.

The Republic 
With the nation in a period of economic decline, Dudley 
Senanayake was returned to power in the 1965 legislative 
elections. His policy of nonalignment, economic 
development, and increased domestic production did not 
satisfy the voters, as high unemployment, food 
shortages, and labor unrest continued. In 1970 a leftist 
coalition headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike won the 
elections; the new government began to move the country 
toward socialism. In March 1971 a brief but violent 
armed revolt took place, sparked by leaders of the 
Marxist-oriented People's Liberation Front. By 
September, the Bandaranaike government had almost 
completely suppressed the rebellion. In that month the 
Senate was abolished and the House of Representatives 
was renamed the National Assembly. On May 22, 1972, the 
country, until then known as Ceylon, officially became 
the socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, when the assembly 
adopted a new constitution. Bandaranaike continued as 
prime minister, and William Gopallawa was appointed 
president.
In 1977 Bandaranaike's government was decisively 
defeated at the polls. She was replaced as prime 
minister by Junius R. Jayewardene, leader of the UNP. 
His government in 1978 replaced the 1972 constitution 
with one providing for an executive president, an office 
which Jayewardene then assumed. Reversing the socialist 
trend of his predecessor, he achieved some initial 
economic gains. By 1980, however, inflation and falling 
wages led to a general strike, which the government 
thwarted only by calling out troops. Later in the year 
Bandaranaike was expelled from the National Assembly and 
barred from voting or standing for election for seven 
years. The supreme court had previously found her to 
have abused her power during her years as prime 
minister. Jayewardene won reelection to a second 
six-year presidential term in October 1982. 
Subsequently, in December, a government proposal to 
extend the life of parliament until 1989 was approved by 
popular referendum.
In 1983 a civil war began between the 
Sinhalese-dominated government and the rebel Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE is a Freedom fighting
organization.The leader is Mr. Velupillai Prabakaran.
Well known..Dedicated fighters in the world. 
that seeks to create a separate nation for the
Tamil minority in the northern and eastern portions of Sri Lanka. 
In June 1987, after an agreement with Jayewardene, Indian 
troops moved into northern Sri Lanka to enforce a peace 
agreement between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Warfare 
subsided, and Jayewardene retired in 1988; Ranasinghe 
Premadasa was elected to succeed him that year, 
defeating Bandaranaike. Premadasa's UNP retained its 
majority in the parliamentary elections of February 
1989, and the last Indian troops departed in March. The 
period of relative peace was short-lived. In 1991 and 
1992 several major battles were fought between the army 
and the LTTE, and in early 1993 the government was 
rocked by two assassinations. On April 23 Lalith 
Athulathmudali, who had founded the opposition 
Democratic United Liberation Front in 1991, was shot to 
death during a political rally. A week later, during the 
annual May Day parade, President Premadasa was 
assassinated by a suicide bomber who allegedly was a 
member of LTTE. Days later the Parliament unanimously 
elected UNP member Dingiri Banda Wijetunge, who was 
previously the prime minister, to serve as president 
until the next national election. In November 1993 LTTE 
forces managed to seize a government military base in 
Pooneryn, which is about 32 km (20 miles) southeast of 
Jaffna. Several days later government forces drove the 
rebel forces back, and recovered the base. The fighting 
was some of the worst between the Sri Lankan government 
and rebel Tamil forces; the Sri Lankan government 
estimated that about 1200 people were missing or killed. 
Since fighting between the two groups began in 1983, 
more than 30,000 people have been killed.

In parliamentary elections held in August 1994, the 
People's Alliance party defeated the UNP, and Chandrika 
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the daughter of former prime 
minister Sirimavo Bandaraike, became prime minister. In 
presidential elections held that November, Kumaratunga 
defeated the UNP's candidate, Srima Dissanayake, to 
become Sri Lanka's first female president. The UNP's 
original candidate, Gamini Dissanayake, had been killed 
during an election rally in October. As president, 
Kumaratunga appointed her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 
to serve as prime minister and pledged to open peace 
talks with the Tamil rebels. In January 1995 an 
agreement for a cease-fire between the LTTE and the 
government was reached, and both sides made efforts 
toward reconciliation by releasing political prisoners. 
However, the 14-week ceasefire, the longest since the 
onset of the war, ended in April, when rebels blew up 
two government gun boats. Later in the month rebels used 
surface-to-air missiles for the first time to shoot down 
two air force planes.