Sri Lanka, lying near the southern tip of India, is also referred to as "Pearl of the Indian Ocean". A variety of ethnic groups and religions share a total area of 65,610 sq km. The largest group are the Sinhalese at 73.9 % of the population. The Tamil minority in the northern and eastern regions of the island come to about 12.7 %; the "Moors" (Muslims) 7.1 % of the population. Buddhists constitute the majority of the population (71 %).
Anti-colonial nationalism has been supported chiefly by the Buddhists, at present Buddhism is the state religion. The Hindu minority (15 %) are mostly Tamils. Muslims (7 %) and Christians (mainly Catholics, approx. 7 %) also live in the country.
Buddhism was introduced to Ceylon as early as the 3rd century BC. The Tamils, originally from India, occupied the country in the 2nd century BC. Following a period of reigning over the entire island, they were forced to retreat into the northern parts. Between the 10th and 16th centuries, Arab tradesmen arrived on the island, introducing Islam, among other things.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot on the island in 1505, followed by the first Franciscan missionaries in 1517. In 1656, the Dutch made the island a colony, starting to persecute Catholics. Finally the British occupied the country in 1796. In the 19th century there was another immigration wave of Tamils from the Indian federal state of Tamil Nadu; these immigrants were in particular employed to work in the tea plantations for the colonial rulers.
In 1948 the country attained independence. Three years later the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was founded, a nationalistic party that was close to Buddhism and came to power in 1956.
A political turning point was reached in 1956: With the number of nationalists growing, Christians, most of whom were Europeans, were regarded with suspicion. The native culture, language and customs gained importance. Under the nationalistic government and its leader, Salomon Bandaranaike, racial conflicts began that made the Tamils feel to be less than a substantial constituent of the nation. The ensuing tensions resulted in first major crowd conflicts in 1958. Observers consider this to be the starting point of an insurmountable rift between Sinhalese and Tamils.
After Mr. Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959, his widow Sirimavo assumed his office – the first female Prime Minister in the world, holding the post until 1965. Protectionist economic measures were taken under her reign. Between 1960 and 1962, religious schools and institutions were nationalized.
A nationalistic wave in 1972 resulted in the constitutional reorganization of the country: the Senate was abolished and only the House of Representatives remained. The name Ceylon was changed to "Republic of Sri Lanka", Sinhala was recognized as the official language and Buddhism as the state religion. In 1976 the Tamils founded the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front.
As violence reached its peak, open conflict arose in 1983 between the two ethnic groups, prompted by the killing of 13 government soldiers by Tamil guerrillas. All over the country the Tamils were made the objects of repressive measures by the Sinhalese, resulting in a mass exodus of the Tamils to the northern regions.
Armed groups joined to form the guerrilla movement Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), demanding an independent state. The ethnic conflicts also had a negative impact on tourism and economy on the island which was largely founded on exports of tea and rubber.
In 1987, after signing of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord (with India supporting the Tamils) and with the consent of the LTTE, 45,000 Indian soldiers were stationed on the island as a peacekeeping force. Two years later, however, this pact was declared null and void, and the bloody armed conflicts between government soldiers and Tamil guerrillas flared up again.
Chandrika Kumaratunga (daughter of the head of government Salomon Bandaranaike, who was assassinated in 1959), elected as the State president in 1994, aimed at a policy to further the easing of tension. To this end she founded a Human Rights Convention and a Committee intended to attend to the problem of missing persons. The state president believed that in the country there were fights against terrorist groups who did not represent the entire Tamil population. Violence and conflicts that keep flaring up have been going on to the present day. Cease-fire accords have repeatedly been violated. (Source: Fides News Service)
In 1995 the Sri Lankan Army marched into the Jaffna peninsula which had been held by the LTTE since 1990. In the night of October 30 to 31, 1995, the guerrillas forced about half a million civilians to leave Jaffna and flee to southern regions. These days the region around Mankulam is back in the hands of the LTTE.
Early in November 1999, the LTTE liberation front began their offensive "Ceaseless Wave", re-conquering vast areas in the northern region Vanni which caused heavy losses to the government troops: ten military bases were lost, the fights inflicted more than 1000 fatalities.
Beginning in December 1999, the civil war escalated again, ultimately leading to the bloody conquest in March 2000 by the government troops of what was called the Elephant Pass, the only access by land to the Jaffna peninsula. The military conflicts in turn made many people flee. A cease-fire between the warring parties was called in 2001 but no stable political solution has been found yet. (Source: www.humedica.org, map: www.wikipedia.org )
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