Here is Your Essay on Sri Lanka

A small (area: 25,300 sq. miles/65,500 sq. km), compact, pear-shaped island off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka has shared historical origins with the subcontinent, but developed distinctive cultural and eco­nomic characteristics. Physically, it is a detached portion of the southern India massif with landforms, climate, natural vegetation and soils matching broadly the adjacent areas of India.

In general, the is­land’s plateau structure has been eroded into a complex hill-land with broad coastal lowlands and a mountainous central core rising to over 8,000 feet (2,400 meters). Cli­mate is essentially tropical monsoonal type with high temperatures year round and heavy seasonal rainfall, with regimes vary­ing from one coast to another.

Physical and Economic Regionalism:

Sri Lanka’s lowlands can be conveniently divided into two broad zones. The “west zone” consists of tropical southwestern coastal lowlands which are densely popu­lated, and are devoted to rice-dominated subsistence agriculture, and the production of rubber and coconuts (on plantations).

The “dry zone” includes the northern and eastern lowlands with elevation of only 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 meters); has scrub and grass vegetation, and over large areas is sparsely populated, although it supported larger populations and was intensively irri­gated in ancient times. Rice and grain crops dominate the agricultural landscapes of the “dry zone,” although in the extreme north around Jaffna, coconuts are also lo­cally important.

The remaining section, including the south-central mountainous core and the adjacent hill-lands has been developed for plantations of tea and rub­ber. This region was linked with the western coast by railroad and road during the British occupation. In total, less than one-third of the country’s area is presently productive, although as much as half might be cultivated.

History and geography conspired to make Sri Lanka the “pearl of the Orient” a coveted prize to the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Its location at the extremity of the Indian peninsula, athwart the trade routes of Asia, a wet tropical climate suit­able for the growth of commercial crops and lush vegetation, were enticing reasons for Europeans to colonize the area. Britain succeeded in controlling the entire island by 1815.

The British superimposed on the native subsistence rice-dominant agricul­ture an estate or plantation economy based largely first on coffee and later on tea and rubber production for export purposes. The interior hills received the main impact of the new economy. Like Malaysia, “Eco­nomic dualism” became the essential character of the country.

Today, nearly all of the tea and rubber, and over a half of the coconut production, account for nearly 40 percent of all exports, shipped mainly through Colombo (620,000), the country’s capital, the largest city, and a leading port which lies on the western coast, on the trading routes to the West. Its major functions are that of a commercial nature; the industry is limited to the pro­duction of such items as matches, paper, cement, china, glassware, etc. for local con­sumption.

Jaffna in the northern extremity, Trincomalee on the east coast, and Galle on the south are important port cities and Dehiwala Mount Lavinia, a re­ligious city, have populations between 100,000 and 200,000. The present population of 19 million is increasing at a rate of 1.2 percent a year, considerably slower than it had been be­fore the 1980s.

Large-scale efforts to resettle the dry zone by restoring ancient irrigation works and adding new ones to increase food production are being made. Between 1945 and 1950 malaria was virtu­ally wiped out in the drive for resettlement, but this in turn led to large population increases.

Population growth has abated somewhat since then, but food problem remains a serious one since the foundations of the economy still rest pri­marily on commercial crops. Sri Lanka spends one-sixth of its import expenditure on grains. In a mineral-deficient country industrialization is not well developed ex­cept for some processing of agricultural goods, and the manufacture of such items as textiles, cement, paper, and china, lo­cated primarily in Colombo. Recently many foreign firms have invested in elec­tronics and other light industries.

Cultural Patterns:

Sri Lanka’s major political problem stems from the diversity and character of its ethnic distribution. The largest element in its ethnically plural society (accounting for about 82.7 percent of the population) is that of the native Sin­halese who trace their ancestry to the north Indian Aryans.

The next biggest group, comprising of 9 percent of the population, is that of Dravidian Tamils who are almost evenly divided between those who have long settled in the Jaffna area at the northern tip of the country and on the east coast and are known as “Cey­lon Tamils,” and another group of “Indian Tamils” who are relatively recent mi­grants or descendants of labor imported by the British from southern India to work on tea and rubber plantations in the inte­rior hill country.

While the native Sinhalese, who are mainly Buddhists and are widely distributed, the two Tamil groups are mainly Hindus and are rela­tively concentrated in the Jaffna area, as well as on the eastern coast and in the high-land plantation area. The rest of the population is composed of “Moors” (Mus­lims) forming 8 percent of the population, and Malays, Eurasians (Burghers) and Europeans, plus a small remnant of primi­tive tribesmen (the Veddas).

Prospects:

Since independence in 1948, the Ceylonese Tamils have been demand­ing a political homeland, Eelam, for the preservation of their language and culture within the country. Relations between the Sinhalese and “Ceylon Tamils” have dete­riorated in recent years, due as much to country’s economic stagnation and as to the political disregard for the “Ceylon Tamils” who are carrying out a bloody conflict with the federal authorities.

As a result, there has been much loss of life and economic disruption in the country. The economy is precariously dependent upon the exports of its plantation products which are subject to severe fluctuations in the world market, and internal har­mony—both of which have been running a dangerous course for the country.

On the other hand, the country is rich in sev­eral resources in addition to the plantation crops, such as forest wealth, minerals (par­ticularly mica, gems and limestone), and has a large potential for the development of hydropower. Future development must, however, await political tranquility in the war-torn nation.