At independence Sri Lanka had a population of about 6.5 million, which by the early 2000 had increased to more than 19 million.

The rate of population growth averaged about 2.6 per cent annually up to the early 1970s and declined to about 1.7 per cent over the next two decades. The population density is at 289 per sq. km.

Ethnicity

Respite its small size, the island of Sri Lanka is marked by a relatively wide diversity of ethnic groups. The society is divided by language, religion, and to a lesser extent by caste.

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The linguistic and religious cleavages tend to reinforce each other, that is, the members of each major linguistic group tend to share the same religion. The principal ethnic community in Sri Lanka is the Sinhalese, constitute about 74 per cent of the population, The second largest ethnic group, the Tamils, constitute about 18 per cent of the population. Besides these two large ethnic communities, there are the-Moors, the Burghers, Malays and Veddhas.

The Sinhalese are a distinct ethnic group speaking the Indo- Aryan language Sinhala. They trace their origin to north India, claiming to be the earliest ‘civilised’ inhabitants on the island. Most of the Sinhalese practice a variant of Theravada Buddhism which had received continuous support from the rulers since it was introduced on the island in the 3rd century BC.

Though a significant minority of the Sinhalese was converted to Christianity during the colonial period, Buddhism became closely allied with rising nationalism in the latter half of the 19th century. Today, most Sinhalese consider themselves to be the protectors of Buddhism. From a geographical standpoint, the Sinhalese are categorised as Low-country and Up-country or Kandy and Sinhalese.

The Low-country Sinhalese are mostly concentrated in the west and the south of the island. They experienced significant change through 400 years of European rule* with many of them taking to Christianity and English education.

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The Kandyan kingdom which maintained its independence for a long time was late in coming under the European influence. The Kandyar or the Up-country Sinhales have largely preserved their social pattern which was feudal, hierarchical and conservative in nature. Regarding themselves as the repository of pure Sinhalese tradition, the Kandyan Sinhalese have emphasised traditional Buddhist education rather than English education.

The Tamils as a minority group have a distinct identity in racial and cultural terms. They trace their ancestry to the same period as that of the Sinhalese arrival and challenge the Sinhalese versions of the historical origins of Sri Lanka.

They are mostly Hindus and speak the south Indian Dravidian language Tamil. A significant number of them have converted to Christianity after the arrival of the European powers. Tamils are, however, divided into Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils depending on their descent.

The Sri Lankan Tamils, who constitute the majority of the Tamils, are concentrated in the northern and eastern provinces and they make up 12.6% of the total population. They trace their immigration to the distant past and are effectively a native minority The Indian Tamils, on the other hand, who make up 5.7 per cent of the total population, are mostly concentrated in the plantation areas situated in the central highlands.

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These people had been brought from the Indian mainland by the British to work on the coffee, tea and rubber plantations in the island. Although Indian Tamils are not indigenous to the island, they had the same legal status as the Sinhalese and the Sri Lanka Tamils during the British rule.

After independence, the first Sinhalese-dominated government took steps to den) citizenship to the Tamils of Indian origin on the ground that even though many of them were born in Sri Lanka, they were only temporary residents of $ island and did not have long term ties to the country. The government soug”1 to deport most of the Indian Tamils and other non-citizens to India and Pakistan

As both India and Pakistan were not receptive to the repatriation of these people because most of them were born in Sri Lanka, they remained as stateless citizens. The Sirirfiavo-Shastri pact of 1964 and Sirimavo-Indira Gandhi pact of 1974 attempted to solve the problem of stateless people.

Under these two pacts, India and Sri Lanka agreed to grant citizenship to 6, 00,000 and 4, 00,000 Tamils respectively. However, the process was slow and following the escalation of ethnic violence in the 1980 repatriation was suspended. In 1988, after a prolonged struggle within and outside parliament, the Indian Tamils managed (o extract citizenship rights from the government.

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Another important ethnic minority group is that of Moors or Muslims who take up some 7.4% of the total population. They trace their ancestry to Arab traders who moved to southern India and Sri Lanka sometime between the eighth and fifteenth centuries, adopted the Tamil language that was the common language of Indian Ocean trade, and settled permanently in Sri Lanka.

They are mostly concentrated in the coastal areas of the eastern part of the island. Apart from the Moors, there are other small minorities like Malays and Burghers who constitute some 0.4% of the total population. The Malays are the descendents of the Javanese who were brought to the island by the Dutch (1640-1796) for military service and canal building.

They speak Malay language which includes numerous words absorbed from Sinhalese and Tamil. The Burghers are the Portuguese and Dutch people who had intermarried with the local population and became permanent residents of the country. During colonial period, they had occupied high educational and administrative positions but have lost influence after the island became independent. The community is shrinking in size because of emigration.

Caste System

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The caste system in Sri Lanka developed its own characteristics. While it shares an occupational role with its Indian prototype, caste in Sri Lanka is based on hereditary roles and functions rather than Buddhism which in principle discourages distinctions based on caste apparently lessened the severity of the institution. A distinct feature of the caste system is that both among the Sinhalese and the Tamils, the highest status caste is also the largest in size.

Among both these ethnic communities, the cultivator caste is placed high in the social hierarchy. Goyigama is the cultivator caste among the Sinhalese which is dominant both in terms of population and influence. According to most estimates, they constitute about one half of the Sinhala population. All Sri Lankan heads of state have, since independence, belonged to the Goyigama caste. Beneath the Goyigamas are the smaller non-cultivator castes that are accorded lesser status.

These are the Karawa (fishermen) the Salagama and the Durawa (toddy tapper) castes. They are principally found along the southwest coast of the island and generally constitute a majority in the regions they are found. Among the Sri Lankan Tamils, the cultivator caste known as the Vellala dominates the caste structure. Like the Goyigama among the Sinhalese, the Vellala is numerically dominant, constituting about one half of the Sri Lanka population. Beneath the Valala are several important castes such as the Koviyar (domestic servants) and the two fishermen castes, the Karayar and Mukkuvar.

Among the Tamils, castes such as the Palla Ambattar (barbers), Valava (toddy tappers) and Paraya are regarded as untouchable. It is estimated that one fourth of the Tamil population is composed of these untouchable castes. Within their separate caste hierarchies, Sinhalese and Tamil communities are fragmented through customs that separate higher from lower orders.

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There is nearly a complete absence of inter-caste marriages. Several members of the lower status caste groups have seized the opportunities provided by the modem economic system, and have become wealthy. These differences in wealth have created wide class cleavages that cut across boundaries of caste, religion, and language. Because of all these divisions, Sri Lankan society is complex, with numerous points of conflict.