An island country in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka lies just off the coast of India. For more than 150 years under British rule the island was known as Ceylon. Its original name, Sri Lanka, was restored in 1972. The name means “resplendent island,” which is fitting for a country of such scenic beauty. The administrative capital is Colombo. The legislative and judicial capital is Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte. GeographySri Lanka is a pear-shaped island about 18 miles (29 kilometers) from the southeastern tip of India. The waterway separating Sri Lanka from India is called the Palk Strait. The island covers an area of 25,332 square miles (65,610 square kilometers). Flat or rolling plains make up most of Sri Lanka's land area. In the south-central part of the country is a highland region that consists of high mountains, deep river valleys, and narrow gorges. Near the center of this region is the island's highest point, Mount Pidurutalagala, which rises 8,281 feet (2,524 meters) above sea level. Numerous rivers begin in the mountains and flow in all directions toward the sea. The longest river is the Mahaweli, which flows 208 miles (335 kilometers) from the highlands to the northeastern coast. Along the coast are sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, and deepwater bays. Because Sri Lanka is near the equator, it has a tropical climate with high temperatures throughout the year. The southwest quarter of the island, which includes the highlands, receives heavy rainfall throughout the year. It is known as the Wet Zone. The rest of the island—the Dry Zone—receives less rain and sometimes experiences months of dryness. For this reason irrigation is necessary for farming. Plants and animalsForests and other natural plant life cover about one third of Sri Lanka. The Wet Zone has tropical evergreen forests, and the Dry Zone has forests of both evergreens and leaf-shedding trees. The driest areas have only thorny shrubs and other plants that can survive without much water. The forests of Sri Lanka are rich in trees that are valued for their wood, including ebony, mahogany, satinwood, and teak. This is one reason why many of the island's original forests have been cut down. People have also cleared forests to make room for settlements and farming. The destruction of Sri Lanka's forests has reduced the living space of many of the island's animals. Leopards, bears, wild pigs, elephants, peacocks, and monkeys still live in the forests, but their numbers have dropped. The government has created a number of national parks to protect the country's wildlife. People and cultureMost of the people of Sri Lanka belong to three main ethnic groups: Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim. Within these groups, people are linked by a shared language and religion. The Sinhalese are the largest group, making up about three fourths of the population. They speak a language called Sinhala and practice Buddhism, a religion that originated in India but is now practiced by very few people there. Tamils are the second-largest ethnic group. Their language, also called Tamil, is spoken in southern India as well as in Sri Lanka. They practice Hinduism, the main religion of India. There are two groups of Tamils: the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils. The Sri Lankan Tamils came to the island from southeastern India many centuries ago. The Indian Tamils have not lived in Sri Lanka for as long a time. They are descended from workers whom the British brought to Sri Lanka from southeastern India in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Muslims, who are also called Moors, make up Sri Lanka's third major ethnic and religious group. They are descended from Arab traders who came to the island in the 8th century. They follow Islam and mostly speak Tamil. Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka, but many people also speak English. The majority of Sri Lankans live in rural villages. The largest urban area is along the southwestern coast and centers on Colombo, the administrative capital. Ethnicity has played a major role in determining where people live. The Sinhalese live in the southern, western, central, and north-central parts of the country. The Tamil live mainly in the north, while the largest concentrations of Muslims occur in the eastern lowlands. The culture of Sri Lanka has been heavily influenced by religion, especially Buddhism. Buddhist temples and statues of Buddha are common sights. In Kandy, an ancient city in the highlands, is the Temple of the Tooth. It holds a sacred relic that is said to be the tooth of Buddha. Economy - Rice is the main food crop grown in Sri Lanka. In dry areas, the process called irrigation is used …
Farming has historically been a large part of Sri Lanka's economy. Many Sri Lankans grow rice and other crops to feed themselves and their families. Tea, rubber, and coconuts are grown for export on large farms called plantations. In the late 20th century, however, farming became less important to Sri Lanka's economy as industries and services developed. The production of textiles and clothing now accounts for the largest portion of Sri Lanka's exports. Processed foods, beverages, tobacco, and chemicals are also leading manufactured products. Sri Lanka ranks among the world's top producers of graphite, a form of carbon that is used in making pencils, and gemstones such as sapphires, rubies, and topazes. Tourism is a major service industry even though years of violence on the island have slowed its development. HistoryThe first people to live on the island now called Sri Lanka were the Vedda. In about the 5th century BC they began to mix with people who were arriving from northern India. The newcomers came to be known as the Sinhalese. The Tamils first reached the island from southeastern India several centuries later. Missionaries from India brought Buddhism to the island during the 3rd century BC. The new religion spread quickly among the Sinhalese. Over the centuries they developed an advanced Buddhist civilization. They built great temples and statues of Buddha. Especially notable among their achievements was the construction of a complex irrigation system to bring water to crops. Beginning in the 10th century AD, however, Tamil invaders from southern India pushed the Sinhalese kingdoms to the southwest part of the island. In the 14th century a Tamil kingdom was established in the north. European influenceThe Portuguese arrived on the island in 1505. They soon took control of the coast and established a trading fort at Colombo. By 1619 they controlled most of the island. In the meantime, however, Dutch traders and officials had also arrived. The local kings turned to them for help in driving out the Portuguese. The Dutch agreed to help, but in return they took control of the coast by 1658. In the late 18th century the British came to the island from India, where they had established a colony. By 1796 the British had taken the island from the Dutch. They called it Ceylon and made it a British colony in 1802. The British developed the island's agricultural economy. They grew coffee on a large scale until a leaf disease destroyed the crop in the 1870s. They then grew tea, rubber, and coconuts. Despite this economic progress, however, the people of Ceylon began to call for independence from Britain in the early 20th century. Ceylon became an independent country in 1948. IndependenceIn the 1950s the government of Ceylon came under the control of politicians dedicated to advancing Sinhalese culture. They made Sinhala the country's only official language for a time and promoted the Buddhist faith. These policies angered the Tamil minority, who carried on a bitter opposition to the government. In the year following the assassination of her husband in 1959, Sirimavo Bandaranaike took power as the world's first female prime minister. In the mid-1960s Ceylon began to experience serious economic problems. In the early 1970s the government made major changes in the country's economic system, putting many industries under government control. A new constitution adopted in 1972 changed the name of the country to Sri Lanka. The country's economic problems continued, however. A new government that took power in the late 1970s began to move away from the previous government's economic policies. From that time on the role of the government in the economy was reduced and industries were returned to the control of private citizens. Separatist conflictSri Lanka's economic development has been hurt by ethnic violence between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. The Tamils want to establish a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern parts of the island. Heavy fighting broke out between Tamil groups and the Sri Lankan government in the early 1980s. In the 1990s the Tamils conducted a series of terrorist attacks in support of their cause. Despite several attempts at negotiating a peace agreement, the conflict continued into the 21st century. Population (2001 estimate), 19,399,000. |