Language Research

Sri Lanka is officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese Sri Lanka Prajathanthrika Samajavadi Janarajaya. Formerly Ceylon Island, the country is located in the Indian Ocean, separated from peninsula of India by the Palk Strait.

Three ethnic groups - Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim -make up more than 99% of the country's population. The Sinhalese make up 74% of the population and are concentrated in the more densely populated southwest. The Tamil segment is comprised of two groups. Sri Lankan Tamils (12%) are long-settled descendants of immigrants from southeastern India. Indian Tamils (6%) are descended from more recent immigrants from southeastern India, most of whom were migrant workers brought to Sri Lanka under British rule in the 19th century. Muslims, who trace their origin back to Arab traders of the 8th century, account for about 7.5% of the population.

The Sinhalese, the descendants of immigrants from northern India, colonized the island around 500 B.C. Buddhism, the religion of the majority of Sinhalese, came from India in the 3rd century B.C. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala an Indo-Aryan language. The Tamils practice Hinduism and speak Tamil, the Dravidian language which is estimated to be 5,000 years old and one of the oldest living classical languages in the world. The Muslims, adherents of Islam, usually speak Tamil.

Although the Sinhalese are the clear majority, they are a majority with a minority complex; they fear the influence of the huge Tamil population across the Palk Straits in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The different groups tend to lead highly segregated lives and live within their own communities, apart from in the capital of Colombo.

The sources of the national conflict in Sri Lanka are historical, economic, cultural and religious. Both the Tamil people and the Sinhalese are indigenous inhabitants of Sri Lanka. Early history records that they had their own monarchs and kingdoms. They were conquered by the colonial powers in different periods of history and existed as separate communities until the British brought them together in 1883 under a single administration (Appendix C).

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