Population & People

Sri Lanka has a population of nearly 20 million; the resulting population density of some 300 people per sq km is one of the highest in Asia. In 1948 the population was only seven million, but between 1963 and 1972 it incresed at an average of 2.3% annually before falling to 1.5% in the 1990s. In 1999 it was 1.1%. About a third of the population is under the age of 15.
The welfare policies of most of the post-independance governments have given Sri Lanka a creditable literacy and health record. Adult literacy (i.e people 15 years of age and over who can read and write) is a little over 90% (93.4% for men, 87.2% for women). The life expectancy for men is 69.8 years of age and for women 75.4.
Ethnic Groups
You can hardly fail to notice that Sri Lanka's ethnic jigsaw is currently its biggest problem. But despite claims that the Sinhalese and Tamils have been fighting each other for 2000 years and are 'natural enemies', there was little troouble between them during the colonial years and in the first few years after independance. Indeed, the distinction between them is fuzzy.
Although the first Sinhalese shelters in Sri Lanka almost certainly came from North India, and the ancestors of most Tamils came from South India, their ranks have have been mixed over the centuries with each other and others of Sri Lanka's ethnic groups. From outward appearance you certainly can't do more than guess whether a person is Sinhalese or Tamil, although Sri Lankans say they can make the distinction. Language and religion, however, are two important aspects in which the two groups do differ.
Sinhalese The Sinhalese constitute about 74% of the population. They speak Sinhala, are predominantly Buddhist and have a reputation as easy-going. Their forebears probably came from somewhere around the nothern bay of Bengal: their chronicles state that the first Sinhalese king, Vijaya, arrived in Sri Lanka with a small band of followers in the 6th century BC.
The Sinhalese have a caste system, although it is nowhere near as important as it is in India. Sinhalese see themselves as either 'low country', or 'Kandyan', and Kandyan Sinhalese have a pride - some would say snobbishness - that stems from the time when the hill country was the last bastion of Sinhalese rulers against European colonists.
Tamils The Tamils are the second largest group, constituting about 18% of the population. Tamils are predominantly Hindu and speak Tamil. About 50 million more Tamils - far more than the whole population of Sri Lanka - live acroos the Palk Strait in India.
There are two distinct groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The origins of sso called 'Sri Lanka' or 'Ceylon' Tamils go back to the Southern Indians who started coming to Sri Lanka during the centuries of conflict and intrigue between Sinhalese and South Indian kingdoms 1000 or more years ago. These Tamils are concentrated in the north, where they now form nearly all the population, and down the east coast, where they are present in roughly equal numbers with Sinhalese and Muslims.
The other group is the 'hill country' or 'plantation' Tamils whose ancestors were brought from India by the British to work on the tea plantations in the 19th century. The hill country Tamils and the Sri Lanka Tamils are separated by geography,  history and caste (the hill country Tamils come mainly from lower Indian castes and have largely kept out of the bloody conflict with the Sinhalese over the past 30 years). Caste distinctions among the Tamils are more important than among the Sinhalese, although nowhere near as important as in India.
Muslims Muslims comprises about 7% of the population. Most of them are so-called 'Sri Lankan Moors', whose presence goes back to Portuguese times and who are probably the descendants of Arab or Indian Muslim traders. They are scattered all over the island, perhaps more thinly in the south and north, and are still particularly active in trade and business. Tamil is the mother tongue for most of them.
A smaller group of Muslims is the Malays, many of whose ancestors came with the Dutch from Java. They still speak Malay and there's a concentration of them in Hambantota. A second small group is the 'Indian Moors' who are more recent Muslim arrivals from India or Pakistan.
Others The Burghers are Eurasians, primarily descendants of the Portuguese and Dutch - more frequently the former than the latter. For a time, even after independence, the Burghers had a disproportionate influence over the political and business life of Sri Lanka, but growing Sinhalese and Tamil nationalism has reduced their advantage and many Burghers have moved abroad. Nevertheless, names like Fernando, de Silva and Perera are still very common.
There are also small Chinese and European communities and a small, downtrodden group of low-caste South Indians brought in to perform the most menial tasks.
The Veddha Community The Veddha, Wanniyala-aetto (people of the forest) are the original inhabitants of the country, and their story is one of great tragedy. Some claim that Wanniyala- aetto no longer exist, that they are so intermarried and absorbed into the main stream culture that they can no longer claim to exist as a distinct, unique group. Others hotly deny this. Whatever is the truth f these claims, the whole debate surrounding these people remains extremely sensitive.
The Sinhalese word Veddah implies 'uncivilized' or 'backward'. According to the Mahawamsa or Great Chronicle (written by monks about 500 BC), when the Indian Prince Vijaya and his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, they found the land inhabited by yakkhas, a Sinhalese name for demons or evil spirits. Vijaya took a yakkha princess for his wife and exploited this alliance to become master of the entire island. Having achieved this, he sent his yakkha wife and children back to their people and married an Indian princess. His first wife, regarded by the yakkhas as a traitor, was killed. Her son and daughter fled into the forest, eventually marrying each other and producing children of their own - the ancestors of the present day Wanniyala-aetto.
Wanniyala-aetto are by no means a homogeneous group, sharing a common religion, language and culture. And this is one of the reasons some people claim they actually don't exist.But there is a community of Wanniyala-aetto living deep in the forests in the south-east, and in recent years it has campaigned hard and long for recognition of its rights. Until 1998 the people were led by the paramount chief Tissahamy. Sadly, Tissahamy died that year and, but his son has taken up the cause.
Central to the whole issue are the traditional hunting grounds of the Wanniyala-aetto in what is now the National Park of Maduru Oya. The park was created in 1983 to serve as a refuge for wildlife displaced by the giant Mahaweli irrigation scheme. The law specifically prohibits hunting and gathering in national parks. The area set aside for the park included five Wanniyala-aetto villages. All but one community (lived under Tissahamy's leadership) eventually moved outside the park borders. Those who had made the move became unhappy with the situation. They could no longer hunt and gather on their ancestral lands, and wanted to go back. In 1990 an area was set aside inside the park for them, and they began to return, but discovered that the allocated area did not encompasses all five villages, and neither did it provide sufficient area to sustain them. In August 1998 the government agreed to set aside more of the park for the Wanniyala-aetto.