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The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala / இலங்கை in Tamil) (known as Ceylon before 1972) is a tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent.
The island was known in ancient times as Lanka, Lankadeepa (Sanskrit for "resplendent land"), Simoundou, Taprobane (from the Sanskrit Tāmaraparnī), Serendib (from the Sanskrit Sinhala-dweepa), and Selan. During colonization, the island became known as Ceylon, a name still used on occasion. Its unique shape and proximity to the Indian mainland have led some to refer to the island as India's Teardrop.
Life on Sri Lanka has been marred by more than two decades of ethnic conflict, mainly between the national government and the Tamil minorities led predominately by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, pronounced L-T-T) insurgency. In early 2002, the two sides agreed on a ceasefire. The conditions of this ceasefire are currently under renogotiation, and the political stability of the country is uncertain.
History
- Main article: History of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's earliest known inhabitants were the Wanniyala-Aetto. These people were displaced by the Sinhalese some time before the dawn of recorded history in Sri Lanka. Buddhism was introduced in the mid-3rd century BC, and a great civilization developed at such cities as Anuradhapura (kingdom from 200 BC to 1000 AD) and Polonnaruwa (c. 1070 to 1200).
There are two different Tamil community one Native Tamil and others are imigrated Tamils from southern India also came to the island (exactly how many, and when, is a matter of debate). By the 13th century, there was a substantial Tamil society in the north and many fishing communities elsewhere along the island's coastline.The refernce of Native tamils in Tamil Literature and concept of Kumari Kandam in Tamil literature, Tamil poetry from the lankan Tamil ( often Srilankan tamils were refered as Ilath Tamil in literatures) dating back from 3AD , proves their nativity. The Tamils here developed a culture and polity distinct from their mainland cousins. Relations between the Tamils (of India and Sri Lanka) and the Sinhalese were complex, sometimes peaceful and sometimes warlike, with invasions in both directions and substantial intermixing.
Buddhism ushered in a new civilization in Sri Lanka after the arrival of the Arahat Mahinda Thera, son of Emperor Asoka, who was ruler of the Magadha empire in India. Devanampiya Thissa, the king at the time of Mahinda Thero's arrival, embraced Buddhism and facilitated its spread by constructing temples and Buddhist institutions throughout the country.
South Indian rulers, mostly of Tamil descent, attacked Sri Lanka on a number of occasions starting in the 3rd century BC. Occasionally, such invasions resulted in Tamil rule of the island for extended periods. Several Sinhala kings are noted for driving back the Tamil invasions and retaking the capital.
After the Polonnaruwa kingdom, the Sinhalese capital moved between several cities over the next centuries, partially to circumvent foreign invasion. The capital has settled in Sri Jayewardenepura (Kotte) when coastal regions were occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch in the 17th century. During both Portuguese and Dutch rule of the coastal areas, the interior, hilly region of the island remained independent, with its capital, the city of Kandy. The Great Britain replaced the Dutch in 1796 and coastal areas became a crown colony in 1802. The entire island was became part of the British Empire in 1815 with the conquest of Kandyan Kingdom. As Ceylon [1], it became independent in 1948. In 1972, its name was changed to Sri Lanka, and in 1978 the legislative and judicial capital was moved from Colombo to nearby Sri Jayewardanapura Kotte. The flag was also changed as orange and green vertical bars were added, representing the Tamil and Muslim minority populations.
Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority erupted in violence in 1983 following the killing of 13 soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna. This led to riots throughout the country and the deaths of hundreds of Sinhalese and Tamils over a three-day period; many more became refugees. Tens of thousands have died on both sides in the subsequent ethnic war that continues to fester.
After two decades of fighting, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the government began a ceasefire in December 2001. Norway is mediating the peace process. The international anti-terrorism focus may have influenced the main Tamil rebel group to seek the ceasefire, as the LTTE was declared a terrorist organization by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Canada. On December 26, 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the Indian Ocean earthquake, struck off the western coast of Sumatra. The earthquake and subsequent tsunamis reportedly killed over 220,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The impact on Sri Lanka was severe. The south and east coasts were devastated by the 10-metre high tsunami, and tens of thousands died.
Politics
- Main article: Politics of Sri Lanka
The president of the republic, who is directly elected for a six-year term, serves as head of state, head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is responsible to parliament for the exercise of duties in accordance with the constitution and laws. The incumbent may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of parliament, with the concurrence of the Supreme Court. The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to parliament. The president's deputy is the prime minister, who leads the ruling party in parliament.
The Sri Lankan Parliament is a unicameral 225-member legislature. Members are elected by universal (adult) suffrage on the basis of a modified proportional representation system by district to a six-year term. The primary modification is a unique "bonus seat" provision, where the party that receives the largest number of valid votes in each constituency gains an additional or "bonus" seat (see Hickman, 1999). The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve parliament any time after it has served for one year. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Parliament was dissolved on February 7, 2004 by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. New elections were held on April 2 and the new parliament convened on April 23.
See also: Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004
Provinces
- Main article: Provinces of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka consists of 9 provinces:
Geography
- Main article: Geography of Sri Lanka
The island of Sri Lanka, lies within the Indian Ocean, with the Bay of Bengal to the northeast. It is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. According to Hindu mythology, a land bridge to the Indian mainland. known as Adam's Bridge, was constructed during the rule of Rama. It is now mostly submerged, with only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level. According to temple records this natural causeway was formerly complete, but was breached by a violent storm (probably a cyclone) in 1480.
The pear-shaped island consists mostly of flat-to-rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south central part of the island. Amongst these, are Adam's Peak and Pidurutalagala, the latter being the highest point at 2,524 m.
The Sri Lankan climate is tropical, characterized by monsoons: the northeast monsoon lasting from December to March, and the southwest monsoon from June to October. The lowest gravitational field on Earth lies just off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The administrative and commercial capital is Colombo, but parliament is located in nearby Sri Jayewardanapura (Kotte). Other major cities include Jaffna, Galle, and Kandy.
Ecology
Sri Lanka is the country with the highest species richness in the world and home to several forest ecoregions, whose flora and fauna is related to that of southern India. The southwest portion of the island, where the influence of the moisture-bearing southwest monsoon is strongest, is home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests. At higher elevations they transition to the Sri Lanka montane rain forests. Both these tropical moist forest ecoregions bear strong affinities to those of India's Western Ghats.
The northern and eastern portions of the island are considerably drier, lying in the rain shadow of the central highlands. The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion, which, like the neighboring East Deccan dry evergreen forests of India's Coromandel Coast, is characterized by evergreen trees, rather than the dry-season deciduous trees that predominate in most other tropical dry broadleaf forests.
These forests have been largely cleared for agriculture, timber or grazing, and many of the dry evergreen forests have been degraded to thorn scrub, savanna, or thickets. Several preserves have been established to protect some of Sri Lanka's remaining natural areas. The island has three biosphere reserves, Hurulu (established 1977), Sinharaja (established 1978), and Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya (KDN) (established 2004).
Sri Lanka is a centre of bird endemism. See Endemic Birds of the Indian Subcontinent for further information.
Economy
- Main article: Economy of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is historically famous for its cinnamon and tea (introduced by the British in the 19th century). From independence, till 1977, it was a strongly socialist economy but since then it has been increasingly pursuing privatization, market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. While tea and rubber are still important, the most dynamic sectors are now food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, insurance, and banking. By 1996, plantation crops made up only 20 percent of exports (compared with 93 percent in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63 percent.
The GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent during the early 1990s, until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8 percent in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-2000, with average growth of 5.3 percent. 2001 saw the first economic contraction in the country's history, due to a combination of power shortages, budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Signs of recovery appeared after the government and the LTTE signed the 2002 ceasefire. The Colombo stock exchange reported the highest growth in Asia for 2003, and today Sri Lanka has the highest per capita income in South Asia.
In April 2004, there was a sharp reversal in economic policy after the government headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe from the United National Party was defeated by a coalition made up of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna called the United People's Freedom Alliance.
The new government stopped the privatization of state enterprises, reforms of state utilities such as power and petroleum and embarked on an unprecedented subsidy program. The main themes of what was called the Rata Perata economic program was to distance the country from the world markets.
In 2004 alone Sri Lanka spent approximately US $ 180 mn on a fuel subsidy as fixing fuel prices was an election promise.
To finance the expanded budget deficit arising from a range of subsidies and a public sector recruitement drive the government eventually had to print Rs 65 bn (US $ 65 mn) or around 3 percent of GDP. The expansionary fiscal policy, coupled with loose monetary policy eventually drove inflation up to 18% by January 2005, as measured by the Sri Lanka Consumer Price Index.
By December 2004, the country was heading for a balance of payments crisis, as the currency depreciated and reserves dwindled. The December 26th Tsunami brought aidflows, and support from the IMF helped improve sentiment in the foreign exchange market.
But GDP growth, which had climbed to 6.4% by the first quarter of 2004 had fallen to 4.8% by the first quarter of 2005.
Demographics
- Main article: Demographics of Sri Lanka
Beach in Welligama, southern Sri Lanka
About 75 percent of the population belongs to the Sinhalese majority, which is predominantly Buddhist, mostly following the Theravada tradition. The other major group on the island is the Tamils, who constitute 18 percent of the population. They are predominantly Hindu, and live mostly in the north and east. Both Sinhala and Tamil languages have enjoyed official status since the Indo-Lanka accord in 1989. English, the link language in the present constitution, is the mother tongue of roughly 10 percent of the population, and is spoken and understood widely. All three languages are used in education and administration.
Smaller minorities include the (mostly Sunni) Muslims (7%), mostly of Arab and Malay descent , the Burghers of mixed European descent (1%) and the Wanniyala-Aetto or Veddahs, the few remaining descendants of earlier cultures. Buddhism (70%) and Hinduism (15%) are the dominant religions. Christians represent 7% of the population, including 6% Catholics and 1% Protestants.
Culture of Sri Lanka
- Main article: Culture of Sri Lanka
See also:Music of Sri Lanka
Famous Sri Lankans
Miscellaneous
Sri Lanka is the world's leading cinnamon exporter.
Sizeable expatriate communities exist in the UK, Australia, Canada, the US, and France, where second generation citizens of Sri Lankan origin demonstrate a sense of cultural heritage by way of intra-community fundraising events, charity dinner dances, and online communities such as Lankansoc and lacnet.
Reference
- Hickman, J. 1999. "Explaining the Two-Party System in Sri Lanka's National Assembly." Contemporary South Asia, Volume 8, Number 1 (March), pp. 29-40 (A detailed description of the effects of the bonus seat provision).
See also
Former parliament building, Colombo
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