Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Background

The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa 1000 A.D.) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam began a ceasefire in December 2001, with Norway brokering peace negotiations.

Sri Lanka Information

• Population: 19,905,165 note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of yearend 2000, approximately 65,000 were housed in 131 refugee camp
• Nationality: noun: Sri Lankan(s) adjective: Sri Lankan
• Location:: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India
• Religions:: Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 7% (1999)
• Ethnic Groups:: Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, and Vedda 1%
• Land Boundaries:: 0 km
• Area: total: 65,610 sq km water: 870 sq km land: 64,740 sq km
• Coast Line: 1,340 km
• Climate: tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
• Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 13.86% permanent crops: 15.7% other: 70.44% (2001)
• Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by poaching and urbanization; coastal degradation from mining activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff; waste disposal; air
• Natural Resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, hydropower
• Highways: total: 96,695 km paved: 91,860 km unpaved: 4,835 km (1999)
• Railways: total: 1,449 km broad gauge: 1,449 km 1.676-m gauge (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee
• Airports: 14 (2003 est.)