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D. Religion

Buddhism, which was introduced into Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC, is the prevailing religious faith. As practiced in Sri Lanka, Buddhism exhibits elements of both the Hindu and Islamic traditions. About 69 percent of the population is Buddhist, 15 percent is Hindu, 8 percent is Christian, and 8 percent is Muslim.


E. Language

The official languages of Sri Lanka are Sinhala, or Sinhalese, and Tamil. Sinhala is spoken by 74 percent of the population. Tamil, a Dravidian language of southern India, is spoken by people living in the northern and eastern provinces. English, the official language of the country until 1957, is still widely used.

F. Education

In Sri Lanka schooling is compulsory for children from 5 to 14 years of age, and it is free at all levels. In 1996 Sri Lanka had 9,554 elementary schools, of which most were government institutions. There are about 30 technical institutions and 9 universities. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Colombo, founded as the University of Ceylon in 1942 and renamed in 1978, is one of the country's major institutions of higher education.

G. Culture

Religion plays an important role in Sri Lanka; a revival of Buddhism was associated with the rise of Sinhalese nationalism. Most public holidays are based on religious festivals. The annual torchlight temple procession, or Perahara, in which ornamentally covered elephants and hundreds of dancers participate, draws thousands of devotees. Pilgrimages also play an important role here. The most important pilgrimage is to the top of Adams Peak. Muslims believe that Adam and Eve lived here after they left the Garden of Eden. Buddhists visit a rock on the peak that they believe contains one of Buddha's footprints. Another important pilgrimage is to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, where it is believed that one of Buddha's teeth is enshrined.

Sinhalese society, although Buddhist, is stratified along caste lines. Ceylon Tamil society reproduces the caste features found in India, although in modified form.

The Colombo National Museum Library (1870), incorporating the collection of the Government Oriental Library, is the largest in Sri Lanka. The oldest library is the Department of National Archives in Colombo, which contains the official records of the Dutch Administration from 1640 to 1796, the British Administration from 1796 to 1948, and the independent nation from 1948 to the present.

Middle Stone Age implements such as bones and grinding stones have been unearthed in the Bandarawela region in the south; some late Stone Age tools of ground quartz were discovered nearby. Early Buddhist pottery and iron artifacts have been found throughout the country. Hindu burial relics dating from the 3rd century BC have been discovered in the North Western Province. The National Museums of Sri Lanka, with branches located in Colombo, Kandy, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Galle, and Trincomalee, contain collections of archaeological finds and historical documents of the country.

IV. Economy

Sri Lanka's economy is predominantly based on agriculture. Most of the people are subsistence farmers, who make a living by growing rice on their small plots. A large export trade in tea, rubber, and coconuts is the dominant commercial activity; most businesses engaged in producing these goods were nationalized in the middle and late 1970s. The government also controlled banking and insurance, as well as mining and the manufacture of such basic goods as fertilizers, textiles, cement, and petroleum. Consumer goods manufacturing and retail businesses remained in private hands. In the late 1970s the government launched a new program to accelerate economic growth that included the elimination of various state monopolies to allow for more private-sector competition; in the mid-1980s the government sought to promote foreign investment in export-oriented industries. Beginning in the late 1980s ethnic violence strained Sri Lanka's economy. Renewed attempts to privatize the economy, particularly the agricultural industry, began in the 1990s.


A. Agriculture

Some 13 percent of Sri Lanka's land area is under cultivation. Tea accounts for about one-fourth of the country's export earnings. Tea, rubber, and coconuts together made up nearly 35 percent of Sri Lanka's export earnings in the early 1990s.

Rice is the basic food of the people and the island's principal crop. More acreage is devoted to the cultivation of rice than to any other crop; the output in 1999 was 2.7 million metric tons. Vegetables are grown in small amounts and are mostly cultivated for private consumption. Considerable quantities of sugar, wheat, and rice are imported.

Animal husbandry is of comparatively little importance to the economy of Sri Lanka. Cattle, buffaloes, goats, chickens, pigs, and sheep are raised.

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