Sri Lanka was part of the Empire of Asoka during the 3rd century, during which time the population was converted to Buddhism. The Sinhalese inhabitants later moved their capital to Polonnaruva in the south of the island to escape from repeated Tamil invasions during the 11th and 12th centuries.

The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese, quickly supplanted by the Dutch in the 17th century. In 1796 Sri Lanka (as Ceylon) was acquired from the Dutch by the British. Initially, administration of the island was shared between the East India Company and the Crown, but the latter assumed full control in 1802. Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) eventually won independence in 1948. Past colonisation by the Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left their mark in architecture, customs, language and agriculture. The country became a republic in 1972, adopting a new constitution along with the Sinhala name, Sri Lanka.

The majority (70%) of the population are Buddhists of Sinhalese descent, but the north and parts of the east of Sri Lanka are dominated by the Tamil population (15%), Hindu by religion, and associated with the Tamils of southern India. Serious conflict arose from the Tamil minority's demands for a separate Tamil state, and terrorist activity by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Eelam being the title of their notional independent state) since the 1970s, has provoked increasingly vigorous responses from the Government.

The Indian government became increasingly involved in the conflict, initially as official mediator between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan government but then, after the failure of an armistice in 1987, it intervened militarily on the government side. A large Indian force engaged the Tamils and, by the end of that year, took the crucial Jaffna peninsula, with heavy losses on both sides. However, all the key Tamil leaders and many of the guerrillas escaped into the jungle. With more than 1000 Indian soldiers dead, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi struggled to persuade the Sri Lankan government to guarantee certain rights for the Tamil minority, but the Government was constrained by militant Sinhalese.

In 1988 Sri Lankan President Premadasa, the candidate of the United National Party (UNP) which had been in office for a decade already, won the presidential election with a small overall majority. Bogged down in an unpopular war of attrition, the Indian troops withdrew in 1989 and the Tigers reoccupied Jaffna. The assassination of Indian premier Rajiv Ghandi in 1991 was one aspect of the Tigers' revenge for the Indian military campaign.

With military and political stalemate through 1991 and 1992, the war of attrition continued without decisive military developments or peace manoeuvres. In the summer of 1993, the Sri Lankan army – retrained and re-equipped with foreign support – launched another major offensive on the Jaffna peninsula but was stalled by fierce Tiger resistance. The army's initiative had come after a further change of presidency, following the assassination of President Premadasa (possibly by the Tigers) in May 1993. The incumbent Prime Minister, Dingiri Wijetunga, replaced him for the rest of the presidential term which expired in December 1994.

The election which followed swept the opposition candidate Chandrikha Kumaratunga into office, ending the UNP's 17-year stranglehold on the presidency. During 1995, Kumaratunga succeeded, for the first time, in wresting both the military and diplomatic initiative from the Tigers. After a round of negotiations based on the possibility of adopting a new federal structure for the island, the Tigers rejected the Government's proposals and another major offensive was launched by the army in October 1995. It was spectacularly successful and drove the main Tiger forces, along with much of the civilian population, into the jungle and forest areas surrounding the lagoon.

Although the Kumaratunga government now had the upper hand, the Tigers were far from finished: over the next eighteen months they scored a number of victories which reversed some but not all of their earlier losses. In January 1998, the Government took the step of formally outlawing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which effectively ruled out anything but a military solution. The army's most recent campaign against the Tigers in September 1998 saw some of the fiercest fighting yet in the 15-year civil war. Since then fighting has continued largely inconclusively, punctuated by occasional suicide bomb attacks against high profile targets. Several of these occurred during the 1999 presidential elections. The poll, which took place in December, returned the incumbent President Karamatunga for a second term.

The people

Ethnic composition
Ethnic, religious, and linguistic distinctions in Sri Lanka are essentially the same. Three ethnic groups--Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim--make up more than 99 percent of the country's population, with the Sinhalese alone accounting for nearly three-fourths of the people. The Tamil segment comprises two groups--Sri Lankan Tamils (long-settled descendants from southeastern India) and Indian Tamils (recent immigrants from southeastern India, most of whom were migrant workers brought to Sri Lanka under British rule). Slightly more than one-eighth of the total population belongs to the former group. Muslims, who trace their origin back to Arab traders of the 8th century, account for about 7.5 percent of the population. Burghers (a community of mixed European descent), Parsis (immigrants from western India), and Veddas (regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants of the country) total less than 1 percent of the population.

The Sinhalese constitute the majority in the southern, western, central, and north-central parts of the country. In the rural areas of the Wet Zone lowlands, they account for more than 95 percent of the population. The foremost concentration of the Sri Lankan Tamils lies in the Jaffna Peninsula and in the adjacent districts of the northern lowlands. Smaller agglomerations of this group are also found along the eastern littoral where their settlements are juxtaposed with those of the Muslims. The main Muslim concentrations occur in the eastern lowlands. In other areas, such as Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam, and Gampaha, Muslims form a small but important segment of the urban and suburban population. The Indian Tamils, the vast majority of whom are plantation workers, live in large numbers in the higher areas of the Central Highlands.

Language and religion

Among the principal ethnic groups, language and religion determine identity. While the mother tongue of the Sinhalese is Sinhala--an Indo-Aryan language--the Tamils speak the Dravidian language of Tamil. Again, while more than 90 percent of the Sinhalese are Buddhists, both Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils are overwhelmingly Hindu. The Muslims--adherents of Islam--usually speak Tamil. Christianity draws its followers (about 7 percent of the population) from among the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Burgher communities.

Ethnic relations

Sri Lanka's ethnic relations are characterized by periodic disharmony. Since independence, estranged relations between the Sinhalese and the Tamils have continued in the political arena. Intensifying grievances of the latter group against the Sinhalese-dominated governments culminated in the late 1970s in a demand by the Tamil United Liberation Front, the main political party of that community, for an independent Tamil state comprising the northern and eastern provinces. This demand grew increasingly militant and eventually evolved into a separatist war featured by acts of terrorism. The violence to which the Tamils living in Sinhalese-majority areas were subjected in 1983 contributed to this escalation of the conflict. The secessionist demand itself has met with opposition from the other ethnic groups.

The arts

In architecture, sculpture, and painting, Sri Lanka's traditions extend far back into antiquity. The remnants of ancient works restored and preserved at archaeological sites, while reflecting Indian influences, also bear testimony to the inspiration derived from Buddhism. Classical literature, too, presents a blend of stylistic influences from India with Buddhist themes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, with the literati being exposed to European literature, local creative writing has acquired greater diversity in style and has become more secular in content.

In the performing arts there are several Sinhalese and Tamil folk traditions and a host of recent imports and imitations. Among the folk dance forms, for example, one finds the highly refined Kandyan dancing, which has been associated over several centuries with state ceremony and religious ritual in and around the historic hill capital of Kandy. The more improvised "devil dancing" is performed at healing rites and exorcisms. In drama, modernized versions of folk theatre share the limelight with modern original works and adaptations from Western dramatists. Both Indian and Western influences are strongly apparent in the popular forms of music.

Cultural institutions

Government assistance to the arts is channeled through several institutions under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Art, music, and dancing are included in the school curriculum. Advanced training in these and several other fields of fine arts is provided at the Government College of Fine Arts, the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, and several private institutions. The Department of National Archives and the National Museum, both in Colombo, are the main repositories of historical documents and archaeological treasures of the country.

Buddhism

The Buddhist church had been a beneficiary of the hydraulic system of the Dry Zone. Lands, taxes, and water dues were assigned to temples, which also invested in land, had their own tanks excavated, and derived benefits therefrom. Now these sources of revenue had declined. Kings continued their patronage of Buddhism, but their wealth and power had diminished. Nobles and commoners were not rich enough to make substantial benefactions. The great monasteries of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were disbanded, and new institutions arose in and around the capitals of Dambadeniya, Kurunegala, Gampola, Rayigama, and Kotte, but they were not of the size or stature of their predecessors in the Dry Zone.

The absence of strong political authority also affected the unity and coherence of the Buddhist church. In this period there was a greater incidence of indiscipline and schism than before. Kings were called upon frequently to purge the sangha of undesirable elements, and its "purification" had to be undertaken now and then.

The influence of Hinduism on Buddhist institutions, theology, and ways of life was more marked during this period. The ruling classes mixed extensively with Tamil royal and noble families, and there was an influx of Brahmans from South India to all parts of the country. Deva worship became a marked feature of popular Buddhism. Vedic and post-Vedic gods now assumed importance and were worshiped by kings and commoners in elaborate festivals.

One of the consequences of the drift of the Sinhalese kingdoms to the southwest and the establishment of the Tamil kingdom to the north was the division of the island into two ethnolinguistic areas. Before this division occurred, Tamil settlements were interspersed among the Sinhalese throughout the island. Then the northern and eastern areas became predominantly Tamil; their numbers were strengthened by fresh migrations from South India after the collapse of the Pandyan kingdom in the 14th century.

Jaffna, as the capital of the Tamil kingdom, became the seat of Tamil Hindu culture, with a social organization somewhat akin to that of the Tamil districts of South India. The landowning cultivators, or Vellala, were the pivot of the social structure and the holders of political and economic power. A number of lesser castes stood in varying degrees of service relationship to the Vellala. Hindu institutions were supported by the kings and the people and were strengthened by the influx of Brahmans. Brahmanic temples sprang up in many parts of Jaffna, and rituals and public worship were regularly held. The Tamil language struck firm roots in the island and became one of its indigenous languages. Tamil literary culture was fostered by the support of the Jaffna kings and was enriched by the constant contact with South India, yet it developed an individuality in idiom and speech and acquired some linguistic characteristics that distinguished it from its South Indian parent.

VISAS: Required by all except nationals of the following countries who will be issued with visas free of charge on arrival at Colombo airport (for touristic visits only):

(a) 1. nationals of EU countries for a maximum stay of 30 days (nationals of Finland and Sweden may stay for up to 90 days);

(b) 2. nationals of Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the USA for a maximum stay of 90 days;

(c) 3. nationals of Albania, Bahrain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Norway, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates for a maximum stay of 30 days;

(d) nationals of CIS countries (except Georgia and Kyrgyzstan) for a maximum stay of 30 days.

Note: All business visitors require a visa.

Types of visa and cost: Tourist: ?28. Multiple-entry Business: ?84 (up to 3 months); ?144 (up to 12 months). Transit: ?28. Prices given are for UK nationals. Prices vary according to nationality; contact the Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy or High Commission) for further details.

Validity: As above. Visitors can request to extend their stay by applying to the Department of Immigration & Emigration, Station Road, Colombo 04 (tel: (1) 503 629 or 503 631 or 503 638; fax: (1) 597 511). This is issued at the discretion of the authorities who must be satisfied that the applicant has at least US$25 per day for the stay and holds an onward or return ticket for travel.

Application to: Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy or High Commission); see Useful Contacts section.

Application requirements: (a) Valid passport. (b) Completed application form. (c) 1 passport-size photo signed on the back by applicant. (d) Fee with self-addressed envelope, stamped for ?4, for return of passport. (e) Proof of sufficient funds for duration of stay.

Business: (a)-(e) and, (f) A letter from sponsor in the applicant's own country accepting financial responsibility for the applicant and guaranteeing his/her return to home country. The company must ensure that the applicant does not undertake any activities which are illegal in Sri Lanka or which conflict with the cultural, moral and religious values of that country.

Working days required: 4.

Temporary residence: Enquire at Embassy or High Commission.

Money & Costs