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.

Flora and Fauna

Sri Lanka not only has an exciting and varied rang of animals and plant life - with elephants and leopards to the fore - but also an impressive national parks and reserves system.
Flora
The south-western wet zone is tropical rain forest with characteristic dense under-growth and a tall canopy of hardwood trees, including ebony, teak and silkwood.

Climate

Sri Lanka is typically tropical country in that there are distinct dry and wet seasons, but the picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that it is subject to two monsoons. From May to August the south-west monsoon brings rain to the southern and western coastal regions and the central hill country.

Ecology & Environment

More than 2000 years ago royalty ensures certain areas were protected from any human activity by declaring them sanctuaries. Almost every province in the kingdom of Kandy had such sanctuaries (Udawattakelle) and they were overseen by specially designated officials. All animals, plants and birds in sanctuaries were to be left undisturbed, the taking of life being anathema Buddhist beliefs. But the worst violation was killing an elephant; elephants were regarded as the property of the Crown and as such, sacred.
Large scale destruction of fauna and flora really started during colonial times when forest was felled in the wet zone to make way for tea plantations, and elephants and other large creatures were shot for sport and to protect these plantations. Since independence, a growing population and an ever-increasing demand for food plus a rush to industrialize have put enormous strain on Sri Lanka’s resources and wildlife.
At the turn of the century about 70% of the island was covered by natural forest. By 1981 this had shrunk to about 24%. Shifting cultivation (chena) is blamed for a good part of this deforestation, but huge areas in the east were also cleared under the Mahaweli irrigation scheme in the 1980s, and clearance for paddy and cultivation elsewhere Continues, especially in the dry zone. Since independence, clearing in the dry zone has proceeded at an escalating rate. The amount of land under cultivation was 1.35 million hectares in 1956; by 1995 this has increased to 2.02 million hectares. Selective logging and illicit felling have also taken their toll.
Not only has the forest cover been drastically reduced, but certain types of tree such as Trincomaleewood (Berrya codrifolia), satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia) and ebony (Diospyros ebenum) are now scarce. The variegated ebony (Diospyros quaesita) is considered to be threatened with extinction. Clearing, especially slash-and-burn farming, and the increasing use of marginal land on steep slopes for vegetable crops such as tomatoes and potatoes (grown with heavy application of chemical fertilizers), have created serious erosion problems. Many plant species used in Ayurvedic medicine are now scarce, due to habitat destruction and over-exploitation.
Gem mining, and mining and the destruction of coral reefs to feed lime kilns have also degraded the environment. In the north-west, between Chilaw and Puttalam, prawn farming has done major damage to the coastal ecology.
Some 82% of the land is controlled by the state in some form or other; the majority of natural forests are under state jurisdiction. The department of Wildlife & Conservation and the Forestry Department play an important role in conservation. Coastal resources is under the jurisdiction of the Coast Conservation Department.
There is a raft of legislation to combat destructive activity and to protect sensitive areas. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention for wetland protection (Bundala has been recognized internationally under the UN-sponsored Ramsar Convention on Wetlands). Sinharaja is a World Heritage Site – saved after being logged during the early 1970s. Sri Lanka has two marine sanctuaries: the Bar Reef (west of Kalpitiya peninsula); and the Hikkaduwa marine sanctuary – plus 24 wildlife sanctuaries. The Coast Conservation Department has targeted Hikkaduwa and Rekawa in its 1996 Special Area Management Plans that will involve local stakeholders in managing the coastal resources. The Crown Lands Ordinance has banned the removal of coral since 1929, and the Forest Ordinance allows authorities to act against people who illicitly cut mangroves. There are laws against marine pollution, trade in endangered species, and the illegal felling of trees. However, despite all these measures, degradation continues due to a growing population that demands more land to be cleared for settlement and cultivation, inertia within government organizations whose role is to protest the environment, and a lack of resources to combat the problem.

Geography

Sri Lanka is shaped like a teardrop falling from southern end of India. It’s just 353km long from north to south and only 183km at its widest. Its area of 66,000sqkm is about the same as that of Ireland or Tasmania, Australia.
The central hill country rises a little south of the centre of the island and is surrounded by a coastal plain. The flat north-central and northern plain extends from the hill country all the way to the northern tip of the island and this region is much drier than the rest of the island. The best beaches are on the south-west, south and east coast.
The highest mountain in the spectacularly beautiful hill country region is Pidurutalagla (2524m), which rises above Nuwara Eliya. Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak), at 2224m, is far better known and much more spectacular. The Mahaweli Ganga, Sri Lanka’s longest river , has its source close to Sri Pada and runs into the sea at Trincomalee. In the north-west of the country Mannar Island, joined to the mainland by bridge, is almost connected to Rameswaram in southern India by the long chain of sandbanks and islets called Adam’s Bridge.

Climate

Sri Lanka is a typically tropical country in that there are distinct dry and wet seasons, but the picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that it is subject to two monsoons. From May to August the south-west monsoon brings rain to the southern and western coastal regions and the central hill country. The season is called Yala. The dry season in these regions is from December to March. The north-east monsoon blows from October to January – the Maha season – bringing rain to the north and east of the island.
This peculiar monsoon pattern means that it is always the ‘right’ season somewhere on the island – thought that advantage has been undermined by the troubles in the east for much of the past few years. Don’t count on the weather following the rules though – it often seems to be raining where it should be sunny and sunny where it should be raining, and many other parts of the world Sri Lanka has suffered some unusual weather conditions in recent years, with a serious drought in 1992 and another in 1996.
In the low-lying coastal regions the temperature is uniformly high year round – Colombo averages 270C. The temperatures rapidly fall with altitude, so if you don’t feel like cooling off in the sea you have simply to go up into the hill country. At Kandy (altitude 450m) the average temperature is 200C and at Nuwara Eliya (at 1890m) you’re down to 160C. The climate is generally like an eternal spring up in the hills but you should come prepared for chilly evenings.
The highest temperatures are usually from March to June but the mercury rarely climbs above 350C. However the humidity, the humidity in these months routinely reaches 75%, and will make you feel a few degrees hotter than the recorded temperature. November to January is usually the coolest time of the year. The sea can be counted upon to remain at round 270C year round, although it is much less suitable for swimming during the monsoon period when it can be choppy and murky.
There is also an inter-monsoon period in October and November when rain and thunderstorms can occur in many parts of the island. The south, south-west and central highlands are much wetter than the northern and north-central regions. In the latter area annual rainfall averages only 100cm and the many tanks, built over 1000 years ago to provide irrigation water, indicate that this is by no means a new problem. In the wetter part of the country annual rainfall reaches 400cm or more.

History

Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to fade into the mists of legend. Is it buddha’s foot print on Sri Pada, visiting an island halfway to paradise? or is it Adam’s peak said to be the very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been cast out of heaven? And isn’t Adams Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India) the very series of stepping stones that Rama, aided by his faithful ally, the monkey god Hanuman, skipped across his mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of the evil demon Rawana, king of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana?
It is probable that the story of Ramayana actually does have some frail basis in reality, for Sri Lanka’s history recounts many invasions from the south of India. Perhaps some early, punitive invasion provided the background for the story of Rama and his beautiful wife, a story that is recounted over and over again all around Asia. Whatever the legends, the reality points towards the first Sinhalese people – who probably originated in north India – arriving in Sri Lanka around the 5th or 6th century a BC, and gradually replacing the prior inhabitants, the Wanniiyala-atto, or Veddahs, only a few of whom linger on today.

The Rise & Fall of Anuradhapura

The Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura developed in the dry, northern plain region of the island in the 4th century BC. Later other Sinhalese kingdoms arose in the south and west, but Anuradhapura remained the strongest. In the 3rd century BC when the great Buddhist emperor, Asoka, reigned in India, his son, Mahinda came to the island with a retinue of monks to spread the Buddha’s teachings. His son converted the Anuradhapura king and his followers to Buddhism, and his sister, Sangamitta, planted a sampling of the sacred bo tree (Ficus religiosa) under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya in northern India. It can still be seen flourishing in Anuradhapura today. Buddhism went through a rejuvenation in Sri Lanka and it was here that the Theravada, also known as the Hinayana, ‘small vehicle’, school of Buddhism, developed, later spreading to other Buddhist countries. Even today, Buddhists of the Theravada school in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and other countries look to Sri Lanka for spiritual leadership.
Buddhism gave the Sinhalese people a sense of national purpose and identity, and also inspired the development of their culture and literature – factors that were to be important in the tumultuous centuries that followed. Anuradhapura was the centre of Sinhalese kingdoms for almost 1500 years, from around the 4th century BC to the 10th century AD. But it suffered from its proximity to South India, where Hinduism continued to flourish. There were repeated invasions and takeovers of Anuradhapura by south Indian kingdoms, and self-defeating entanglements in South Indian affairs by Anuradhapura’s rulers.
A number of Sinhalese heroes arose to repel the invaders, two of the most famous being Dutugamunu (2nd century BC) and Vijayabahu (11th century AD). It was Vijayabahu I who finally decided to abandon Anuradhapura and make Polonnaruwa, farther south-east, his capital. Today, the majestic ruins of these two cities are not the only reminders of this period of Sri Lankan history. Scattered over the country are enormous ‘tanks’, artificial lakes developed for irrigation purposes in the dry regions of Sri Lanka. Even today they would be considered amazing engineering feats.

The Rise & Fall of Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa survived as a Sinhalese capital for over two centuries and provided two other great kings, apart from Vijayabahu I. his nephew Parakramabahu I (1153-86 AD), not content with Vijayabahu’s expulsion of South Indian Chola rulers from Sri Lanka. Carried the fight to South India and even made a raid on Burma. Internally he indulged in an orgy of building at his capital and constructed many new tanks around the country. But his warring and architectural extravagances wore the country out and probably shortened Polonnaruwa’s lifespan.
His successor, Nissanka Malla (1187-96), was the last great Polonnaruwa king. He was followed by a series of weak rulers and then once more a South Indian kingdom arose in the north of the island. Tanks were neglected or destroyed, malaria started to spread due to the decay of the irrigation system and finally, like Anuradhapura before it, Polonnaruwa was abandoned.

The Portuguese Period

The centre of Sinhalese power now shifted to the south-west of the island and between 1253 and 1400 AD there were five Sinhalese capitals. During this period Sri Lanka also suffered attacks by Chinese and Malayans as well as the periodic incursions from South India. Finally, the colonial European powers arrived in 1505.
At this time Sri Lanka had three main kingdoms – The Sinhalese kingdoms of Kandy in the central highlands and Kotte, the most powerful, in the south-west, and the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna in the North (which originated in South India). In 1505 the Portuguese Lorenzo de Almeida arrived in Colombo, established friendly relations with the King of Kotte and gained for Portugal a monopoly on the spice and cinnamon trade, which would soon become of enormous importance in Europe. Attempts by Kotte to utilize the strength and protection of Portuguese only resulted in Portugal taking over and ruling not only their regions but the rest of the island, apart from the central highlands around Kandy. Because the highlands were remote and inaccessible, the kings of Kandy were always able to defeat attempts by the Portuguese to annex them, and on a number of occasions drove the Portuguese right back down to the coast.

The Dutch Period

Portuguese rule was characterized by European greed, cruelty and intolerance at its worst, but attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch had taken control over the coastal areas of the island. During their 140 years’ rule the Dutch, like the Portuguese, were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy under their control. The Dutch were much more interested in trade and profits than the Portuguese, who spent a lot of effort spreading their religion and extending their physical control.

The British Period

The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by the British, who in 1815 also managed to win control of the kingdom of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole island. Until 1802 the British administered Sri Lanka from Chennai (Madras) in India, but in that year Sri Lanka became a crown Colony and in 1818 a unified administration for the island was set up.
In 1832 sweeping changes in property laws opened the doors to British settlers – at the expense of the Sinhalese, who in British eyes did not have clear title to their land. Soon the country was dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network of roads and railways was built to handle this new economic acivity. English became the official language, and is still widely spoken today.
Coffee was the main cash crop and the backbone of the colonial economy, but a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the 1870ss and the plantations quickly switched over to tea or rubber. Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter.
The British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and willingly on the plantations, so they imported large numbers of Tamil labourers from South India. Sinhalese pheasants in the hill country lost land to the estates.
Sri Lanka’s first government after independence deprived the hill country Tamils of citizenship; eventually deals in the 1960s and 1980s between Sri Lanka and India allowed some of them to be ‘repatriated’ to India while others were granted Sri Lankan citizenship.

Independence

Between WWI and WWII, political stirrings started to push Sri Lanka towards eventual independence from Britain – but in a considerably more peaceful and low-key manner than India. At the end of WWII it was evident that independence would come very soon, in the wake of independence for Sri Lanka’s larger neighbor.
In February 1948 Sri Lanka , or Ceylon as it was still known, became an independent member of British Commonwealth. The first independent government was formed by D S Senanayake and his United National Party (UNP). His main opponents were Tamil parties from the north of the country or from the tea plantations, and communists.

Introduction to Sri Lanka Travel Guide

Visit Sri Lanka (The Small Miracle) 2011 






National Geographic's Worlds Best Islands - Sri Lanka the second best

You want to travel in Sri Lanka and enjoy maximum while your stay in this tiny Island, you name it and we deliver to you. Beaches? – the coastal stretch south of Colombo has beach after beach as beautiful as anywhere in the world. Culture? - Try the Kandyan dances, a procession of elephants or the demon mask dances, for size. Ruins? – if you like ruins you’ll find your fill in the ancient cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Scenery? – head for the hill country where the heat of the plains and the coast soon fade away. Wildlife? – Sri Lanka has its own subspecies of elephant which you can see wild in the national parks. All this comes with friendly people, good food, pleasant places to stay and reasonably low costs in a handy, compact package.
Ceylon or Sri Lanka?
Changing the country’s name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in the 1970s caused considerable confusion, but in fact it has always been known to the Sinhalese (he majority people of Sri Lanka) as Lanka, or to the Tamils as Ilankai. Indeed the 2000 year old Hindu epic, the Ramayana, tells of Rama’s beautiful wife being carried away by the evil king of Lanka. Later, the Romans knew it as Taprobane and Muslim traders talked of the island of Serendib, from which was derived the word serendipity – the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. The Portuguese called it Ceilã. In turn, the Dutch altered this name to Ceylan and the British to Ceylon. In 1972 the original Lanka was restored with the addition of Sri, which means ‘auspicious’ or ‘resplendent’ in the Sinhalese language.

A spectacular view of Sigiriya Rock Fortress from Hotel Sigiriya