Sri Lanka - srē längˈkə [Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (1995 est. pop. 18,343,000), 25,332 sq mi (65,610 sq km), in the Indian Ocean, just SE of India. It is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The capital is
Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte.
Colombo, the former capital (and still the site of many government offices), is the commercial capital and largest city.
Land and People The pear-shaped island is 140 mi (225 km) across at its widest point and 270 mi (435 km) long. The narrow northern end is almost linked to SE India by Adam's Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals that, although partly submerged, present an obstacle to navigation. About four fifths of the island is flat or gently rolling; mountains in the south central area include Adam's Peak (7,360 ft/2,243 m) and rise to Pidurutalagal (8,291 ft/2,527 m), the highest point on the island. Sri Lanka has a generally warm subtropical climate; the average lowland temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), but humidity is high. Rainfall, largely carried by monsoons, is adequate for agriculture, except in the subhumid north. Administratively, the country is divided into nine provinces. In addition to Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte and Colombo, other important cities are Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia,
Kandy,
Galle, and Jaffna. The population of Sri Lanka is composed mainly (about 75%) of Sinhalese, who are Theravada Buddhists; Hindu Tamils make up a large minority (some 18%), and there are smaller groups of Muslim Moors, Burghers (descendants of Dutch and Portuguese colonists), and Eurasians (descended from British colonists). The official language is Sinhalese (Sinhala); Tamil is a second national language, and English is commonly used in government. Education is free through the university level; the literacy rate is about 90%. Economy 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. Government Sri Lanka is governed under the constitution of 1978. The president, who is popularly elected for a six-year term, is both the chief of state and head of government. Members of the 225-seat unicameral parliament are also elected by popular vote for six-year terms. History Early History and Colonialism The most ancient of the inhabitants were probably the ancestors of the Veddas, an aboriginal people (numbering about 3,000) now living in remote mountain areas. They were conquered in the 6th cent. b.c. by the Sinhalese, who were originally from N India; the Ramayana, the ancient Hindu epic, probably reflects this conquest. The Sri Lanka chronicle Mahavamsa relates the arrival of Vijaya, the first Sinhalese king, in 483 b.c. The Sinhalese settled in the north and developed an elaborate irrigation system. They founded their capital at
Anuradhapura, which, after the introduction of Buddhism from India in the 3d cent. b.c., became one of the chief world centers of that religion; a cutting of the pipal tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya was planted there. The Temple of the Tooth at Kandy as well as the Dalada Maligawa are sacred Buddhist sites. Buddhism stimulated the fine arts in Sri Lanka, its classical period lasted from the 4th to the 6th cent. The proximity of Sri Lanka to S India resulted in many Tamil invasions. The
Chola of S India conquered Anuradhapura in the early 11th cent. and made
Pollonarrua their capital. The Sinhalese soon regained power, but in the 12th cent. a Tamil kingdom arose in the north, and the Sinhalese were driven to the southwest. Arab traders, drawn by the island's spices, arrived in the 12th and 13th cent.; their descendants are the Muslim Moors. The Portuguese conquered the coastal areas in the early 16th cent. and introduced the Roman Catholic religion. By the mid-17th cent. the Dutch had taken over the Portuguese possessions and the rich spice trade. In 1795 the Dutch possessions were occupied by the British, who made the island a crown colony in 1798. In 1815 the island was brought under one rule for the first time when the central area, previously under the rule of Kandy, was conquered. Under the British, tea, coffee, and rubber plantations were developed, and schools, including a university, were opened. A movement for independence arose during World War I. The constitution of 1931 granted universal adult suffrage to the inhabitants; but demands for independence continued, and in 1946 a more liberal constitution was enacted. An Independent Nation Full independence was finally granted to the island on Feb. 4, 1948, with dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations. In 1950 delegates of eight countries of the Commonwealth met in Colombo and adopted the
Colombo Plan for economic aid to S and SE Asia. Riots in 1958 between Sinhalese and the Tamil minority over demands by the Tamils for official recognition of their language and the establishment of a separate Tamil state under a federal system resulted in severe loss of life. In Sept., 1959, Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated, and in 1960 his widow, Sirimavo
Bandaranaike, became prime minister. The Federal party of the Tamils was outlawed in 1961, following new disorders. Certain Western business facilities were nationalized (1962), and the country became involved in disputes with the United States and Great Britain over compensation. The radical policies of Mrs. Bandaranaike aroused opposition, and the elections in 1965 gave a parliamentary plurality once more to the moderate socialist United National party (UNP) of Dudley Senanayake, who became prime minister with a multiparty coalition. Under Senanayake, closer relations with the West were established and compromise arrangements were made for recompensing nationalized companies. However, economic problems and severe inflation continued, aggravated by a burgeoning population (between 1946 and 1970 the population almost doubled). In 1970, Mrs. Bandaranaike and her three-party anticapitalist coalition won a landslide victory, following considerable preelection violence. She launched social welfare programs, including rice subsidies and free hospitalization, but failed to satisfy the extreme left, which, under the Marxist People's Liberation Front, attempted to overthrow the government in an armed rebellion in 1971. With Soviet, British, and Indian aid, the rebellion was quelled after heavy fighting. In 1972 the country adopted a new constitution, declared itself a republic while retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, and changed its name to Sri Lanka. In the early 1970s the government was confronted with a severe economic crisis as the country's food supplies and foreign exchange reserves dwindled in the face of rising inflation, high unemployment, a huge trade deficit, and the traditional policy of extensive social-welfare programs. Civil War Repression of the Tamil language fueled demands by the Tamil minority for an independent state. Election of a new UNP government under J. R. Jayawardene in 1977 and the implementation of economic reforms geared toward growth did little to restrain an upsurge of terrorist violence. In the 1980s the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam initiated a full-scale guerrilla war against the army in the north and east; at the same time, radical Sinhalese students assassinated government officials whom they believed were too soft on the Tamils. In response to a request from Jayawardene's government, India sent (1987) 42,000 troops to NE Sri Lanka. The Indian troops fought an inconclusive war with the Tigers and were asked to withdraw by Jayawardene's successor, Ramasinghe Premadasa, who was elected in 1988. The Indian troops withdrew in late 1989, and fighting resumed in 1990. In 1993, Premadasa was assassinated in a suicide bombing; he was succeeded as president by prime minister and UNP leader Dingiri Banda Wijetunga. A year later, the opposition People's Alliance party (PA) came to power, and Chandrika
Kumaratunga, the daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became prime minister and then president. Her government negotiated a cease-fire with the Tamil Tigers, but it collapsed after three months as violence resumed. In late 1995 the government, in a large-scale offensive, captured the Tamil stronghold of
Jaffna; heavy casualties were reported there, while terrorist bombs caused civilian deaths in Colombo. The war continued throughout the 1990s, as government troops attacked rebel bases and terrorists |
