Sri Lanka
Webpages concerning "Sri Lanka"
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Wikipedia-Article "Sri Lanka"
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| National motto: None | |||||
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| Official languages | Sinhala, Tamil | ||||
| Other languages | English | ||||
| Capitals | Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte | ||||
| Largest city | Colombo (former capital) | ||||
| President | Mahinda Rajapakse | ||||
| Prime Minister | Ratnasiri Wickremanayake | ||||
| Government | Democratic Socialist Republic | ||||
| Constitution | Second Republic 1978 | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 119th 65,610 km² 1.3% |
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| Population - Total (2004) - Density |
Ranked 53rd 20,064,776 298/km² |
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| GDP - Total (2003) - Per capita |
Rs. 1,748,774 USD. 4,000; |
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| HDI (2003) | 0.751 (93rd) – medium | ||||
| Independence | February 04, 1948 | ||||
| Currency | Sri Lankan Rupee | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +6 | ||||
| National anthem | Sri Lanka Matha | ||||
| Internet TLD | .lk | ||||
| Calling Code | 94 | ||||
Sri Lanka is a tropical island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India.
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Name
In 1972, the official name of the nation that governs the island was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala / இலங்கை in Tamil).
Prior to 1972, Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names.
Sri Lanka ("resplendent land" in Sanskrit) itself represents the modern adoption of a name of ancient lineage. It derives from the Ramayana, in which the island was simply called Lanka. It was also known as Lankadeepa, appending the word for island. The appellation Lanka was unknown to the Greeks, from whom most Western names would be derived.
The second-century Greek geographer Ptolemy called the island Simundu or Simoundou (pronounced Silundu) and Palai-Simundu ("Old Simundu"). The forth-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus called the inhabitants of the island Serandives. The tenth-century historian Abu Rihan Muhammad bin Ahmad, or Alberuni, called the island Singal-Dip. However, in Arabic, the island ultimately came to be known as Serendib or Sarandib, which led to the Persian Serendip (as used in the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes were always making discoveries of things they were not seeking, from which Horace Walpole in 1754 would ultimately coin the English word serendipity).
There is at least one alternative argument to the origin of Palai-Simundu, holding that, rather than coming from the Sanskrit sinhala, it derives instead from the Sanskrit pali-simanta ("head of the sacred law") as Sri Lanka had become an important center of Buddhism.
The sixth-century Greek sailor Cosmas Indicopleustes ("Cosmas India-Voyager") called the island Sielen Diva ("island of Sielen"). From this derived many of the other European forms: the Latin Selan, Portuguese Ceilão, Spanish Celián, French Selon, Dutch Zeilan, Ceilan and Seylon, and English Ceylon. A similar Arabic form of more recent vintage than Sarandib, Sailan, later came to be via predecessor words in Arabic Tilaan and Cylone. Ceylon and its equivalents in other languages are still occasionally used today.
In addition to calling it Simundu, Ptolemy also called the inhabitants Salai and the island Salike ("country of the Salai"). There are various theories as to the origin of this. One that many scholars hold is that it was merely a corruption, probably by the Greek sailors who traveled to Sri Lanka, of Simhalaka.
There are some alternative arguments as to the origin of Salike. Some argue that another Indian name for the island - Salabha ("rich island") - is its source. Others argue that it came via the Egyptian Siela Keh ("land of Siela"), even more similar to Cosmas' Siele and still of the same ultimate origin.
Both Ptolemy's Salai and Cosmas' Siele (Diva being merely a form of dwîpa ("island")), as well as the Arabic forms, have a common source in the Pâli sihalam (pronounced Silam), the Pâli form of the Sanskrit sinhala ("dwelling place of lion"), with sinha ("lion") as its root. As there are no lions on Sri Lanka, sinhala must be taken to mean a lion-like man - a hero - presumably Vijaya.
This origin is shared with many other names, such as Serendiva, Serendivus, Sirlediba, Sihala, Sinhale, Seylan, Sinhaladveepa, Sinhaladweepa, Sinhaladvipa, Sinhaladwipa,Simhaladveepa, Simhaladweepa, Simhaladvipa, Simhaladwipa, Sinhaladipa, Simhaladeepa, etc. Many of these names appear to reflect nothing more than the numerous orthographic variations in the way these names have been transliterated into Western languages, including changing the n to m, changing the a at the end of Sinhala to an e, writing the vowel in the penultimate syllable as an i or an ee, changing the v to a w or omitting them completely.
The names Heladiva and Heladveepa have two possible origins, a point of hot debate between certain Sri Lankans. Some argue that is nothing more than an additional type of name as described in the above paragraph, simply having been shortened by dropping the Sin or Sim. Others argue that the Hela were a separate people living on Sri Lanka before the arrival of the Indian invaders, the Singhalese. Those who make this distinguishment are more likely to use these names to describe Sri Lanka. Sivuhelaya may also be a name of similar origin, although it is very obscure.
Other names have also been used in the West to describe the island. The Indian conqueror Vijaya named the island Tâmraparnî (copper-colored leaf"), a name which was adopted into Pâli as Tambaparni. The accounts of Alexander the Great's officers and others like forth-century BCE Greek geographer Megasthenes, based on information they obtained from Greek and Sri Lankan travellers, called the island Taprobanê, generally regarded as a transliteration of Tâmraparnî. Later, the seventeenth-century English poet John Milton borrowed this for his epic [[English language|English-language] poem Paradise Lost.
An alternative etymology for the Greek Taprobanê is from the Sanskrit Tambrapani ("great pond" or "pond covered with red lotus"), most likely in association with the great tanks for which Sri Lanka famed. A third is that it derived its name a river; the name of the river is Tāmaraparnī or Tamiravarani or Taamravarni, which is North of Sri Lanka and is a combination of the Sanskrit taamra ("coppery") and varna ("color").
From Ptolemy we also learn that Taprobanê was anciently (from his perspective) called Simoundou. Other names include the Tamil Ilanare, the Arabic Tenerism ("isle of delight"), and the Chinese Pa-Outchow ("isle of gems").
The island has also earned several nicknames. It came to be known as the Island of Teaching due to the large number of Greeks and Chinese who travelled to the island to learn of Buddhism.
Due to its shape and location in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India, some also refer to the island as India's teardrop.
History
- Main article: History of Sri Lanka
Most historians believe that the prince Vijaya came to Sri Lanka from Orissa, in north-eastern India, during the sixth century BCE and started to rule the native people in Sri Lanka, who were known as the Veddas. A nearly continuous written history exists in the book "Mahavamsa" from this point on and it describes the Sinhalese kingdom started from king Vijaya and his followers. It also describes a minister of Vijaya, Anuradha, who establishes the village of Anuradhagamma which later becomes Anuradhapura and becomes the capital of Sri Lanka a few centuries later. Archeological evidence is somewhat contradictory to this account, showing continuous settlement in the Anuradhapura area from the 10th century BC onwards with people living in the area having knowledge of agriculture, metallurgy, and livestock breeding. Buddhism arrived from the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BC at the hands of Arahath Mahinda Thero, missionary of Indian Emperor Ashoka and spread rapidly. Buddhism and a sophisticated system of irrigation became the pillars of classical Sinhalese civilization (200 BC-1200 AD) that flourished in the north-central part of the island, with capitals at Anuradhapura (from c. 200 BC to c. 1000 AD) and Polonnaruwa (c. 1070 to 1200). After the Polonnaruwa era, the capital moved frequently, with the entire island being rarely unified. Parakramabahu IV, who ruled from Kotte, was the last Sri Lankan king to rule over the entire island.
The origins of Tamil presence on the island are unclear. Given the island's close proximity to South India, it is very likely that people have traveled back and forth throughout human history.
South Indian rulers attacked Sri Lanka on a number of occasions. 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.
When the Portuguese first arrived, the Island consisted of three independent kingdoms namely Yarlpanam (Tamil) kingdom, Kotte (Sinhala) kingdom and the Kandy (Sinhala) kingdom. In 1517, the Portuguese established the fort and trading post of Colombo. Portuguese successfully defeated both the coastal kingdoms (Yarlpanam and Kotte) 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. Great Britain replaced the Dutch in 1796, and the coastal areas became a crown colony in 1802. After the fall of Kandy kingdom in 1815, the British decided to unify the three kingdoms under one rule for administrative purposes in 1818.
The struggle for independence started in the 1930s, when the Youth Leagues opposed the 'Ministers' Memorandum' which asked the colonial authorities to increase the powers of the board of ministers, rather than seeking independence. During World War II the pro-independence leaders were jailed. Japanese forces bombed Sri Lanka, but there were few casualties. Extensive damage was caused to shipping and the Royal Navy lost two cruisers, an aircraft carrier and an Australian destroyer. A month later, a Sri Lankan garrison on the Cocos Islands mutinied, but the rebellion was put down. The British used Sri Lanka as a base for operations in the Pacific.
As Ceylon [1] it became a dominion within the British Commonwealth in 1948. In 1972, its name was changed to Sri Lanka and the country became a Republic, freeing itself from the last vestiges of colonial domination. In 1982 the legislative and judicial capital was moved from Colombo to nearby Sri Jayewardanapura Kotte. The flag was also changed in 1948 as orange and green vertical bars were added, representing the Tamil and Muslim minority populations.
Post independence governments implemented a series of pro-Sinhalese measures in order to support the majority community who were disadvantaged compared to the minorities due to the policies of European colonialists. This was seen as discriminatory by the Tamils and led to tensions between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil political/military groups, which erupted in violence in 1983 following the killing of 13 soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna. This led to a government-sponsored pogrom ('Black July') throughout the country and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tamils over a three-day period; many more became refugees. Sinhalese and Muslims were driven away from the North by militants and many massacres of sinhala and muslim civilians were carried out in the northern and eastern provinces between 1983 and the ceasefire in 2001. 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, India, and Sri Lanka.
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 280,000 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.
On June 24, 2005, Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) - the aid sharing legal instrument, has been signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the backing of E.U., U.S.A, U.K. and Norway. The agreement supposed to help administer the Tsunami relief efforts in the Tamil Tiger controlled area of North and East of Sri Lanka. The agreement has been challenged by the JVP and JHU in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and the verdict is still pending.
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 07, 2004 by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. New elections were held on April 02 and the new Parliament convened on April 23 and elected Mahinda Rajapakse as the Prime Minister.
In August 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that Presidential Elections would be held in November 2005, resolving a long-running dispute on the length of President Kumaratunga's term. Mahinda Rajapakse was nominated as the SLFP candidate and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was nominated as the UNP candidate.
The Presidential Election was held on November 17, 2005, and Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as the fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka with a 50.29% of the valid votes, while Ranil Wickremesinghe got 48.43% of valid votes. Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the President on November 19, 2005.
The narrow victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who offers less autonomy than Ranil Wickremasinghe to the northeast where the majority of Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils live, angered the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who wish to see Tamil Eelam become recognized as an independent country (the LTTE did, however, boycott the election, thereby preventing thousands of Tamils from casting ballots). The boycott of the Presidential Election by LTTE prevented Ranil Wickremasinghe from coming into power, whose election promises included the implementation of a Federal state to the North and East (thus preventing the implementation of such).
A new Prime Minister was sworn in, due to vacation of the post, as Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa became President. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was appointed as the 22nd Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, on November 21, 2005. He had served as Prime Minister in 2000 also.
There were high hopes that the devastating Tsunami of December 2004 would force both the government and Tamil rebels into a new, lasting dialogue in order to address the serious effects of the disaster on Sri Lanka as a whole. These hopes were quickly dashed by almost immediate accusations of bias and favouritism on the part of international aid agencies from both sides. At the close of 2005, there remained deep political unease and suspicion between the two factions.
See also: Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004
Provinces
- Main article: Provinces of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka consists of 8 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 Rama's Bridge, was constructed during the time of Rama. Now usually referred to as Adam's Bridge, 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 (also known as Mt Pedro), 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 commercial capital is Colombo, but the administrative and legislative capital is located in nearby Sri Jayewardanapura (Kotte). Other major cities include Jaffna, Galle, and Kandy.
Ecology
Sri Lanka is one of the world's bio-diversity hot-spots. Its forests are amongst the most floristically rich in Asia and for some faunal groups, it has the highest density of species diversity in the world. 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 left-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 support the rural and suburban SMEs and insulate the domestic economy from external influences, such as oil prices, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
However a policy of directly subsidizing imported commodities like fuel, fertilizer and wheat, soon unravelled the fiscal sector. 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 recruitment 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.
The tsunami helped stabilize the deterioration of macro-economic fundamentals as foreign debt relief and assistance from the International Monetary Fund strengthened both the external sector and fiscal operations.
GDP growth in 2Q 2005 is expected to be higher, but inflation remains in double digits. Continued subsidies on oil (and thermal generated power) are beginning to put pressure on exchange rates again. Loose monetary policy has also been driving credit growth.
The IMF in a report released in September 2005 has called for and end to 'fiscal domination' of monetary policy and more independance for the Central Bank so that inflation could be contained.
In December 2005, Sri Lanka received its first international credit rating with Fitch Ratings assigning it a BB- rating (a rating held by Brazil and Indonesia amongst others).
Demographics
- Main article: Demographics of Sri Lanka
About 74 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, east and central provinces of Sri Lanka. The Tamil population comprises two communities, one composed of Native Tamils and another composed of more recent immigrants from India.
Both Sinhala and Tamil are official languages. 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.
Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
See Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
Culture of Sri Lanka
Miscellaneous Facts about Sri Lanka
- First country in the World to have a female prime minister (Sirimavo Bandaranaike)
- First country in South Asia to start radio broadcasting with Radio Ceylon
- Exports one of the finest quality of tea in the world
- World's leading exporter of cinnamon
- First country to have a wildlife sanctuary [2]
- Winner of the Cricket World Cup in 1996
See also
- Sinhala Wikipedia
- Tamil Wikipedia
- Communications in Sri Lanka
- Foreign relations of Sri Lanka
- Islam in Sri Lanka
- Hinduism in Sri Lanka
- List of cities in Sri Lanka
- List of cricketers from Sri Lanka
- List of kings and rulers of Sri Lanka
- List of national parks of Sri Lanka
- List of Sri Lankan birds
- List of Sri Lankan broadcasters
- List of Sri Lankan musicians
- Media in Sri Lanka
- Military of Sri Lanka
- Music of Sri Lanka
- Status of religious freedom in Sri Lanka
- Transportation in Sri Lanka
- Rupavahini
External links
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Overviews
- U.S. Department of State - Background Note: Sri Lanka (August 2005)
- BBC News - Country Profile: Sri Lanka
- Library of Congress - Country Study: Sri Lanka data as of July 1987
- Amnesty International Report 2005
- CIA - The World Factbook -- Sri Lanka
- Encyclopedia of Nations - Sri Lanka
Tourism
Others
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