Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) is an island of 22,409,381 people located just off the south coast of India. Just slightly larger than West Virginia, it is located within the Indian Ocean and is considered part of Southern Asia. The providences of Central, Eastern, North Central, Northern, North Western, Sabargamuwa, Uva, and Western make up the country. There are varying resources such as limestone, graphite, and gems contributing to the country's GDP.
The country declared independence February 4th, 1948. It is of note that this independence came with oppression for the Tamil and English languages in the Sinhala Only Policy, which aimed at taking English down from its proverbial throne and repressing the Tamil (Walisundra & Hettiarachchi,2008 p.309-210; Herath,2015 p. 251).
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Map: Sri Lanka (n.d)
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The geography of Sri Lanka is very unique. Residents on the island here can only expect three months of monsoon free weather. Along with the mosoons comes the possibility of occacisonal cyclones and tornados. Interestingly enough, there is a theory that a cyclon was actually responsible for breaking up a land bridge in between Sri Lanka and India. It is thought that the bridge was broken apart by the natural disaster in the 15th century. As a result of such a plentiful water source, agriculture thrives and takes up fifty percent of the total land usage. The main agricultural outputs of Sri Lanka include rice, sugarcase, grains, spices, and vegetables. The country's actual exports include textiles, tea and spices, rubber, precious stones, coconut products, and fish. These exports are sent around the world, with the U.S, U.K, and India being the largest buyers. The only one of these partners Sri Lanka imports from is India, which contributes 21.7 percent of their total imports.
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The ethnic groups of Sri Lanka vary, with a 79.9 percent of the population falling within the Sinhalese and the remaining 11.2 percent into Sri Lankan Tamil and 9.2 percent into Sri Lankan Moor. The dominant languages of the island are represented in a similar way with 74 percent speaking Sinhalese and 18 percent speaking Tamil. The official languages of Sri Lanka are Sinhala, Tamil, and English. However, English is often used as a “link language" in the constitution as well as by the people in academic and business settings. Around 2 million people in Sri Lanka are considered L2 speakers of English, meaning they have acquired it as a second language (Crystal, 2003). A majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, the official religion of the island. They represent almost three-fourths of the population with the remainder being either Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, or other Christian. The total population literacy is high at 92.6 percent. Females fall behind males by just 1.9 percent.
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Sri Lanka is set up as a presidential republic in which an elected president acts as a representative of one of the branches of government, much like how the United States is run. The three established branches mirror those found in American politics: legislative, executive, and judicial. The president appoints a cabinet who usually consults with the prime minister. The president is elected by a majority vote for a term of five years with a second term being possible. Ammendments are proposed by parliament with approval needed by two-thirds majority in order to to pass. Certification of the amendment is need by the president or parliament speaker. Then in referendum an “absolute majority of valid votes” is needed.
There are a variety of groups who hold influence in the Sri Lankan government. A few are found in the Buddhist clergy who hold sway as they represent the official religion of the country. Others include the Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups, the dispora groups, as well as the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). This final group fought for recognition of the Tamil people up until the year 2009 when their leader was killed (Herath, 2015, p253). The clash of the LTTE against the government created a twenty year civil war that proved to be devastating to the country.
Chart: (Sri Lanka: Economy, 2017)
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The Sri Lankan economy has been declining as 77 percent of their GDP is government debt. This is among one of the highest amounts in emerging markets. Along with this comes the 6.7 percent of people who live below the poverty lines (as of 2012). Sadly enough, the country is also one of the popular destinations for people forced into labor and sex trafficking. Some are forced in such trafficking within their own country while others are moved to nearby parts of Asia. Sri Lanka has failed to meet the expectations regarding the amount of trafficking but was granted a waiver because of their plan that would aim to put the government at minimum standards of halting the practice.
Kiana Vanderham, Fall 2017