Letter to Rajapakse: States Smaller than Sri Lanka

SANGAM.ORG
Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc.
Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA

A Private Letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse

by R.Cholan, February 17, 2005

What I found most interesting in studying this list is that, when Sri Lanka gets split into ‘New Sri Lanka’ and ‘Thamileelam,’ the New Sri Lanka will still be larger than 134 UN members nations (Thamileelam will be larger than 70 of them). Look at the big picture. If the ‘New Sri Lanka’ and ‘Thamileelam’ stop fighting each other, we both will be fairly big guys in the world scene.

Psst! Hey Presidente!

You made a bit of a ‘BOOBOO’ this week in your interview with Reuters [13 February 2006] and I was quite embarrassed, you being the President of my old country and all that. You said, “[Sri Lanka] is a small country, where you can’t have two states…”

You are an educated man (a lawyer, I am told) and I am surprised at your lack of knowledge on such matters. The fact is – Sri Lanka is not a small country as you claim. I have listed below data on 138 countries smaller in population than Sri Lanka, all full-fledged members of the United Nations. The total membership of the UN is only 191 countries. What I found most interesting in studying this list is that, when Sri Lanka gets split into ‘New Sri Lanka’ and ‘Thamileelam,’ the New Sri Lanka will still be larger than 134 UN members nations (Thamileelam will be larger than 70 of them). Look at the big picture. If the ‘New Sri Lanka’ and ‘Thamileelam’ stop fighting each other, we both will be fairly big guys in the world scene.

I realize that your constituents have a tendency to think of Sri Lanka as small. They learned to think this way from the Mahavamsa story of Duttu Gemunu lying curled-up on his bed. He couldn’t stretch out, he explained to his mother according to the Mahavamsa, because “over there beyond the river are the Tamils; here on this side is the sea; how can I lie with outstretched limbs?” You see, they (and you too) need to get out of this way of thinking. Sri Lanka is not so small after all.

I am sending this to you so that you don’t make the same blunder again. Please give it to your advisors and speech-writers. Tell them that an anonymous friend of yours sent it to you so that they don’t give you bad advice in the future. Tell them to study it carefully, and maybe even post it on their bulletin-boards for future reference.

Keep this communication under wraps please, and don’t tell anyone I sent this to you. My Tamil friends here will ‘kill me’ if they find out that I am helping you.

Respectfully submitted.

Sincerely,
R. Cholan

 

UN Member States smaller than Sri Lanka (in order of Population)

  Country Date of Admission to UN Area * Population**
1 Tuvalu (5 Sept. 2000) 26 11,636
2 Nauru (14 Sept. 1999) 21 13,048
3 Palau (15 Dec. 1994) 458 20,303
4 San Marino (2 Mar. 1992) 61 28,880
5 Monaco (28 May 1993) 2 31,987
6 Liechtenstein (18 Sep. 1990) 160 33,717
7 Saint Kitts and Nevis (23 Sep. 1983) 261 38,958
8 Marshall Islands (17 Sep. 1991) 181 59,071
9 Antigua and Barbuda (11 Nov. 1981) 443 68,722
10 Dominica (18 Dec. 1978) 754 69,029
11 Andorra (28 July 1993) 468 70,549
12 Seychelles (21 Sep. 1976) 455 81,188
13 Grenada (17 Sep. 1974) 344 89,502
14 Kiribati (14 Sept. 1999) 811 103,092
15 Micronesia, Federated States of (17 Sep. 1991) 702 108,105
16 Tonga (14 Sep. 1999) 748 112,422
17 Saint Vincent & the Grenadines (16 Sep. 1980) 389 117,534
18 Saint Lucia (18 Sep. 1979) 616 166,312
19 Samoa (15 Dec. 1976) 2,944 177,287
20 Sao Tome and Principe (16 Sep. 1975) 1,001 187,410
21 Vanuatu (15 Sep. 1981) 12,200 205,754
22 Barbados (9 Dec. 1966) 431 279,254
23 Belize (25 Sep. 1981) 22,966 279,457
24 Iceland (19 Nov. 1946) 103,000 296,737
25 Bahamas, The (18 Sep. 1973) 13,940 301,790
26 Maldives (21 Sep. 1965) 300 349,106
27 Brunei (21 Sep. 1984) 5,770 372,361
28 Malta (1 Dec. 1964) 316 398,534
29 Cape Verde (16 Sep. 1975) 4,033 418,224
30 Suriname (4 Dec. 1975) 163,270 438,144
31 Luxembourg (24 Oct. 1945) 2,586 468,571
32 Djibouti (20 Sep. 1977) 23,000 476,703
33 Equatorial Guinea (12 Nov. 1968) 28,051 535,881
34 Solomon Islands (19 Sep. 1978) 28,450 538,032
35 Comoros (12 Nov. 1975) 2,170 671,247
36 Bahrain (21 Sep. 1971) 665 688,345
37 Guyana (20 Sep. 1966) 214,970 765,283
38 Cyprus (20 Sep. 1960) 9,250 780,133
39 Qatar (21 Sep. 1971) 11,437 863,051
40 Fiji (13 Oct. 1970) 18,270 893,354
41 East Timor (27 Sep. 2002) 15,007 1,040,880
42 Trinidad and Tobago (18 Sep. 1962) 5,128 1,088,644
43 Swaziland (24 Sep. 1968) 17,363 1,173,900
44 Mauritius (24 Apr. 1968) 2,040 1,230,602
45 Estonia (17 Sep. 1991) 45,226 1,332,893
46 Gabon (20 Sep. 1960) 267,667 1,389,201
47 Guinea-Bissau (17 Sep. 1974) 36,120 1,416,027
48 Gambia, The (21 Sep. 1965) 11,300 1,593,256
49 Botswana (17 Oct. 1966) 600,370 1,640,115
50 Lesotho (17 Oct. 1966) 30,355 1,867,035
51 Slovenia (22 May 1992) 20,273 2,011,070
52 Namibia (23 Apr. 1990) 825,418 2,030,692
53 Macedonia (8 Apr. 1993) 25,333 2,045,262
54 Bhutan (21 Sep. 1971) 47,000 2,232,291
55 Latvia (17 Sep. 1991) 64,589 2,290,237
56 Kuwait (14 May 1963) 17,820 2,335,648
57 United Arab Emirates (9 Dec. 1971) 82,880 2,563,212
58 Jamaica (18 Sep. 1962) 10,991 2,731,832
59 Mongolia (27 Oct. 1961) 1,565,000 2,791,272
60 Congo, Rep. of the (20 Sep. 1960) 342,000 2,958,448
61 Armenia (2 Mar. 1992) 29,800 2,982,904
62 Oman (7 Oct. 1971) 212,460 3,001,583
63 Panama (13 Nov. 1945) 78,200 3,039,859
64 Mauritania (27 Oct. 1961) 1,030,700 3,086,859
65 Liberia (2 Nov. 1945) 111,370 3,288,198
66 Uruguay (18 Dec. 1945) 176,220 3,415,920
67 Albania (14 Dec. 1955) 28,748 3,563,112
68 Lithuania (17 Sep. 1991) 65,200 3,596,617
69 Central African Republic (20 Sep. 1960) 622,984 3,799,897
70 Lebanon (17 Oct. 1966) 10,400 3,826,018
71 Ireland (14 Dec. 1955) 70,280 4,015,676
72 Costa Rica (2 Nov. 1945) 51,100 4,016,173
73 Bosnia and Herzegovina (22 May 1992) 51,129 4,025,476
74 New Zealand (24 Oct. 1945) 268,680 4,035,461
75 Singapore (21 Sep. 1965) 693 4,425,720
76 Moldova (2 Mar. 1992) 33,843 4,455,421
77 Croatia (22 May 1992) 56,542 4,495,904
78 Eritrea (28 May 1993) 121,320 4,561,599
79 Norway (27 Nov. 1945) 324,220 4,593,041
80 Georgia (31 July 1992) 69,700 4,677,401
81 Turkmenistan (2 Mar. 1992) 488,100 4,952,081
82 Kyrgyzstan (2 Mar. 1992) 198,500 5,146,281
83 Finland (14 Dec. 1955) 337,030 5,223,442
84 Slovakia (19 Jan. 1993) 48,845 5,431,363
85 Denmark (24 Oct. 1945) 43,094 5,432,335
86 Nicaragua (24 Oct. 1945) 129,494 5,465,100
87 Papua New Guinea (10 Oct. 1975) 462,840 5,545,268
88 Togo (20 Sep. 1960) 56,785 5,681,519
89 Jordan (14 Dec. 1955) 92,300 5,759,732
90 Libya (14 Dec. 1955) 1,759,540 5,765,563
91 Sierra Leone (27 Sep. 1961) 71,740 6,017,643
92 Laos (14 Dec. 1955) 236,800 6,217,141
93 Israel (11 May 1949) 20,770 6,276,883
94 Paraguay (24 Oct. 1945) 406,750 6,347,884
95 Burundi (18 Sep. 1962) 27,830 6,370,609
96 El Salvador (24 Oct. 1945) 21,040 6,704,932
97 Honduras (17 Dec. 1945) 112,090 6,975,204
98 Tajikistan (2 Mar. 1992) 143,100 7,163,506
99 Bulgaria (14 Dec. 1955) 110,910 7,450,349
100 Benin (20 Sep. 1960) 112,620 7,460,025
101 Switzerland (10 Sep. 2002) 41,290 7,489,370
102 Azerbaijan (2 Mar. 1992) 86,600 7,911,974
103 Haiti (24 Oct. 1945) 27,750 8,121,622
104 Austria (14 Dec. 1955) 83,858 8,184,691
105 Rwanda (18 Sep. 1962) 26,338 8,440,820
106 Somalia (20 Sep. 1960) 637,657 8,591,629
107 Bolivia (14 Nov. 1945) 1,098,580 8,857,870
108 Dominican Republic (24 Oct. 1945) 48,730 8,950,034
109 Sweden (19 Nov. 1946) 449,964 9,001,774
110 Guinea (12 Dec. 1958) 245,857 9,467,866
111 Chad (20 Sep. 1960) 1,284,000 9,826,419
112 Hungary (14 Dec. 1955) 93,030 10,006,835
113 Tunisia (12 Nov. 1956) 163,610 10,074,951
114 Czech Republic (19 Jan. 1993) 78,866 10,241,138
115 Belarus (24 Oct. 1945) 207,600 10,300,483
116 Belgium (27 Dec. 1945) 30,510 10,364,388
117 Portugal (14 Dec. 1955) 92,391 10,566,212
118 Greece (25 Oct. 1945) 131,940 10,668,354
119 Serbia and Montenegro (1 Nov. 2000) 102,350 10,829,175
120 Senegal (28 Sep. 1960) 196,190 11,126,832
121 Angola (1 Dec. 1976) 1,246,700 11,190,786
122 Zambia (1 Dec. 1964) 752,614 11,261,795
123 Cuba (24 Oct. 1945) 110,860 11,346,670
124 Niger (20 Sep. 1960) 1,267,000 11,665,937
125 Malawi (1 Dec. 1964) 118,480 12,158,924
126 Mali (28 Sep. 1960) 1,240,000 12,291,529
127 Zimbabwe (25 Aug. 1980) 390,580 12,746,990
128 Ecuador (21 Dec. 1945) 283,560 13,363,593
129 Cambodia (14 Dec. 1955) 181,040 13,607,069
130 Burkina Faso (20 Sep. 1960) 274,200 13,925,313
131 Guatemala (21 Nov. 1945) 108,890 14,655,189
132 Kazakhstan (2 Mar. 1992) 2,717,300 15,185,844
133 Chile (24 Oct. 1945) 756,950 15,980,912
134 Netherlands (10 Dec. 1945) 41,526 15,980,912
135 Cameroon (20 Sep. 1960) 475,440 16,380,005
136 Cote d'Ivoire (20 Sep. 1960) 322,460 17,298,040
137 Madagascar (20 Sep. 1960) 587,040 18,040,341
138 Syria (24 Oct. 1945) 185,180 18,448,752
139 Sri Lanka (14 Dec. 1955) 65,610 20,064,776
  New Sri Lanka Future 46,777 16,064,776
  Thamileelam Future 18,833 3,966,012

* Area is in square kilometers.
** The populations are July 2005 Estimates.


PS: I got all this information from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) website. If you want to check it here is the URL

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html.

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