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B. Legislature

According to the 1978 Sri Lanka constitution, the unicameral parliament is the "legislative power of the people." The 225 members of parliament are elected directly by a system of proportional representation.


C. Political Parties

The major political parties in Sri Lanka are the People's Alliance, a leftist coalition group, and the United National Party (UNP), a democratic socialist party. Other parties include the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and several Tamil separatist groups.


D. Local Government

Sri Lanka is divided into 8 provinces and 25 administrative districts. Each district is presided over by an appointed district minister. Other local government units include 12 municipal councils and 39 urban councils.


E. Judiciary

The Sri Lankan judiciary consists of a Supreme Court, the court of appeal, the High Court, district courts, magistrates' courts, and primary courts. The chief justice of the supreme court and two subordinate justices appointed by the president make up the Judicial Service Commission, which has appellate and review powers in criminal cases and exclusive powers in the most serious criminal offenses.


F. Defense

In 1998 the armed forces in Sri Lanka were made up of an army of 90,000 people, a navy of 10,000, and an air force of 10,000.


G. Health and Welfare

Sri Lanka has an average of 1 physician for every 6,843 persons and 1 hospital bed for every 365 persons. In 2000 the average life expectancy at birth was 76 years for women and 70 years for men. The infant mortality rate declined from 63 deaths per 1,000 live births in the mid-1960s to 16 deaths in 2000.

VI. History

According to Hindu legend the greater part of Sri Lanka was conquered in prehistoric times by Ramachandra, the seventh incarnation of the supreme deity Vishnu. The written history of the country begins with the chronicle known as the Mahavamsa. This work was started in the 6th century AD and provides a virtually unbroken narrative up to 1815. The Mahavamsa was compiled by a succession of Buddhist monks. Because it often aims to glorify or to degrade certain periods or reigns, it is not a wholly reliable source despite its wealth of historical material.


A. Ancient Sinhala

The Mahavamsa relates that the island was conquered in 504 BC by Vijaya, a Hindu prince from northeast India. After subjugating the aboriginal inhabitants, a people now known as Veddas, Vijaya married a native princess, encouraged emigration from the mainland, and made himself ruler of the entire island. However, the realm (called Sinhala after Vijaya's patrimonial name) that was inherited by his successors consisted of the arid region lying to the north of the south-central mountain system.

Members of the dynasty founded by Vijaya reigned over Sinhala for several centuries. During this period, and particularly after the adoption in the 3rd century BC of Buddhism as the national religion, the Sinhalese created a highly developed civilization. Extant evidence of their engineering skill and architectural achievements includes remnants of vast irrigation projects, many ruined cities, notably the ancient capital Anuradhapura, and numerous ruined shrines called dasobas.

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