For a small island, Sri Lanka has many nicknames such as Serendib, Ceylon, Teardrop
of India, Resplendent Isle, Island of Dharma, Pearl of the Orient. This colourful
collection reveals its richness and beauty, and the intensity of the affection it
evokes in its visitors. The beach thing may be a cliche, but don't miss them. Then
head to the hills to cool off amidst tea plantations and ancient cities. The island
teems with bird life, and even the occasional elephant or leopard. To top it all
off, the people are friendly, the food is delicious and costs are low. Climatically
the driest and best seasons are from December to March on the west and south coasts
and in the Hill Country, and from May to September on the east coast. December to
March is also the time when most foreign tourists come, the majority of them escaping
the European winter.
Highlands make up Sri Lanka's south-central region and core, with narrow gorges
and deep river valleys. The surrounding lowlands include hills and fertile plains.
The developing mixed economy is largely based on agriculture, services, and light
industries. Clothing, tea, gemstones, and rubber are exported. The island is world-famous
for its gemstones, which include sapphires, rubies, and topaz. It is also a major
producer of high-grade graphite.
Sri Lanka is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government
is the president, assisted by the prime minister. The Sinhalese people are probably
the result of aboriginal inhabitants mixing with Indo-Aryans who began migrating
from India
c. the 5th century BC. The Tamils were later immigrants from
Dravidian India, migrating over a period from the early centuries AD to
c.
1200. Buddhism was introduced during the 3rd century BC. As Buddhism spread, the
Sinhalese kingdom extended its political control over the island but lost it to
invaders from southern India in the 10th century. Between 1200 and 1505, Sinhalese
power gravitated to southwestern Sri Lanka, while a southern Indian dynasty seized
power in the north and established the Tamil kingdom in the 14th century. Foreign
invasions from India, China, and Malaya occurred in the 13th – 15th centuries. In
1505 the Portuguese arrived, and by 1619 they controlled most of the island. The
Sinhalese enlisted the Dutch to help oust the Portuguese, and the island eventually
came under the control of the Dutch
East India Company,
which relinquished it in 1796 to the British. In 1802 it became the British crown
colony of Ceylon, which gained independence in 1948. It became the Republic of Sri
Lanka in 1972 and took its present name in 1978. Civil strife between Tamil and
Sinhalese groups has beset the country since the early 1980s, the Tamils demanding
a separate autonomous state in northern Sri Lanka. In 2004 Sri Lanka was struck
by a tsunami that badly damaged much of the coastline and killed tens of thousands
of people.
The pear-shaped island has a population 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%.
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 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.
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.
Full independence was finally granted to the island on Feb. 4, 1948, with dominion
status in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Out of season travel has its advantages - it's less crowded, and many airfares and
accommodation prices go right down. Nor does it rain all the time. Reefs may protect
a beach area and make swimming quite feasible at places like Hikkaduwa, which during
the monsoon can be quite pleasant. July/August is the time of the Kandy Esala Perahera,
the 10-day festival honouring the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, and also the
time for the Kataragama Festival in the South. In both towns accommodation just
before, during and immediately after the festivals is very difficult to come by,
and rates usually double or treble.