Sri Lanka Facts

Sri Lanka Facts and History

Asia

Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) – The “Venerable Beauty”

The island of Sri Lanka, which lies southeast of the coast of India, has had her name since 1972, which translates as “Venerable Beauty”. Before that time, the island was known as Ceylon, which the Dutch gave it in the 17th century after they drove out the Portuguese as a colonial power. However, the Dutch experienced the same fate as early as the late 18th century when they were replaced by the English in their position of power on Ceylon. The beautiful island was part of the British Empire until 1948, after which it became an independent state.

The population of Sri Lanka is about 70% Buddhist. The Buddhism was v in 248th Brought from India to Sri Lanka. Numerous temples, monasteries and Buddha statues that adorn the entire country make the millennia-long presence of this religion and the Sri Lankan culture clear.

Since 1983, Sri Lanka has found itself in an increasingly flare-up civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, a Tamil paramilitary organization that has been declared a terrorist organization by the US and the EU. In mid-May 16 May 2009 the government announced a complete victory over the rebels. By the end of the fighting, the attacks had killed over 70,000 people.

On April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday, devastating terrorist attacks occurred on three Christian churches and three luxury hotels.

A few hours later there were two more attacks. A total of 290 people were killed and around 500 injured. Seven Islamist suicide bombers are believed to have been involved in the attacks

Name of the country Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Form of government Presidential republic with a parliamentary-democratic order
Geographical location Island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of India
National anthem Sri Lanka Matha
Population around 21 million (Credit: Countryaah: Sri Lanka Population)
Ethnicities approx. 74% Sinhalese, 18% Tamils, 7% Arabs and others
Religions approx. 70% Buddhists12% Hindus

10% Muslims

7% Christians

Languages Sinhala and Tamil
Capital officially Sri Jayewardenepura – Kottede facto Colombo
Surface 65,525 kmĀ²
Highest mountain Pidurutalagala with a height of 2,524 m
Longest river Mahaweli Ganga with a length of around 335 km
International license plate CL
National currency Sri Lankan rupee
Time difference to CET + 5 h
International phone code + 94
Mains voltage, frequency 230 volts and 50 hertz
Internet TLD (Top Level Domain) .lk

Sri Lanka: history

Before the year 1000

Sri Lanka was founded in the 5th century BC. Populated by Aryan settlers from North India. The settlers called themselves Sinhalese, which means sons of lions. Around the same time, Dravidian migrants, the ancestors of the Tamils, immigrated to northern Sri Lanka from southern India.

According to Abbreviationfinder website, the Sinhalese kings ruled for a full 2,300 years until the 18th century. Impressive residences and temple cities were built under their rule. Agriculture flourished due to extensive irrigation systems. In 248 BC The monk Mahinda came to the island from India and converted the residents to Buddhism.

In the 3rd and 5th centuries there were first conflicts between Sinhalese and Tamils. Around 700 there were again ethnic-religious wars of conquest by the Tamil rulers from northern Sri Lanka. With the help of the Indians, the Tamil Hindus defended their independence from the Buddhist-Sinhalese majority of the population.

From the year 1000 to the 17th century

Due to the Tamil incursions, the Sinhalese kings moved their seat of power from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa. In the 12th century, Sri Lanka experienced a heyday under Parakrama Bahu I.

The irrigation system was expanded and canals and reservoirs were created. During the 13th to the early 16th centuries, the Tamil kingdom of Eelam was established in the north of the island. The Sinhalese kingdom lost its influence in the meantime. The last Sinhalese ruler to rule the entire island was Parakrama Bahu VI. in the 15. century. From then on the island was divided into three parts.

In addition to the Tamils in the north and the Sinhalese in the south of Sri Lanka, a small, independent Sinhalese empire called Kandy was established in the central mountainous region of the island.

In the 16th century, the Portuguese colonized Sri Lanka. Only the Kingdom of Kandy continued to exist. From 1640 the Dutch expelled the island and named it Ceilan.

In the 18th and 19th centuries

The English conquered Ceylon from 1796 and made the island a crown colony from 1802.

In 1815, the Kandy Empire was finally defeated by the English. The English rule lasted until February 4, 1948. During this time, numerous coffee, tea, rubber and coconut plantations were established. Over 100,000 Tamils were brought in from India as plantation workers. The English introduced an education system and administration based on the European model.

In the 20th and 21st centuries

On February 4th, 1948, Ceylon peacefully achieved the independence of the Commonwealth. In the 1950s, around 1 million Tamils lost their citizenship and the right to vote through a law. The Tamil minority was thus severely suppressed.

In 1972 Ceylon received a new constitution. The young republic was named “Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”. The presidential constitution of 1978 was created based on the French and American models. In 1982 the capital was moved from Colombo to Sri Jayawardanapura, on the outskirts of Colombo. In fact, Colombo has remained the capital.

Serious attacks against the minority took place across the country following terrorist attacks by Tamils in 1983. The Tamils then fled to Jaffna, where the separatist organization LTTE, which fought with terror for equality, established itself. In 1987 India sent peacekeepers to the island to calm the situation. An “Agreement to Restore Peace and Normality in Sri Lanka” was signed. However, this agreement failed two years later, whereupon the Indian troops withdrew. A peaceful solution to the conflict in the north-east of the country did not come about in the following years either. Only in 2002 could a ceasefire be signed with the LTTE,

On December 26th, 2004 the severe tsunami hit Sri Lanka as well as other countries. Around 38,000 people lost their lives in Sri Lanka as a result of the tidal wave. From February 2006 the ceasefire between the LTTE and the government broke. Numerous people then lost their lives as a result of attacks and military offensives. But in mid-May 2009 the military reported the complete annihilation of the Tamil rebels.

Since 1983, Sri Lanka has found itself in an increasingly flare-up civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, a Tamil paramilitary organization that has been declared a terrorist organization by the US and the EU. In mid-May 16 May 2009 the government announced a complete victory over the rebels. By the end of the fighting, the attacks had killed over 70,000 people.

On April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday, there were devastating terrorist attacks on three Christian churches and three luxury hotels.

A few hours later there were two more attacks. A total of 290 people were killed and around 500 injured. Seven Islamist suicide bombers are believed to have been involved in the attacks.

Sri Lanka Facts