S I LANKA
About
Sri lanka
Sri Lanka, Before the war Sri Lanka, after the war
An island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India, Sri Lanka is about half the size of Alabama. Most of the land is flat and rolling; mountains in the south‐central region rise to over 8,000 ft (2,438 m).
National Flag
National Flower
Parliament of Sri lanka
Coat of Arms
The President
National Bird
National Tree
National Game
What do you like to Know About Sri Lanka?
History Economy Demography sports
History Of Sri Lanka •
Indo‐Aryan emigration from India in the 5th century B.C. came to form the largest ethnic group on Sri Lanka today, the Sinhalese. Tamils, the second‐largest ethnic group on the island, were originally from the Tamil region of India and emigrated between the 3rd century B.C. and A.D. 1200. Until colonial powers controlled Ceylon (the country's name until 1972), Sinhalese and Tamil rulers fought for dominance over the island. The Tamils, primarily Hindus, claimed the northern section of the island and the Sinhalese, who are predominantly Buddhist, controlled the south. In 1505 the Portuguese took possession of Ceylon until the Dutch India Company usurped control (1658–1796). The British took over in 1796, and Ceylon became an English Crown colony in 1802. The British developed coffee, tea, and rubber plantations. On Feb. 4, 1948, after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders (which briefly unified the Tamil and Sinhalese), Ceylon became a self‐governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations.
• The Tamil minority's mounting resentment toward the Sinhalese majority's monopoly on political and economic power, exacerbated by cultural and religious differences, erupted in bloody violence in 1983. Tamil rebel groups, the strongest of which were the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, began a civil war to fight for separate nation. • President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated at a May Day political rally in 1993, when a Tamil rebel detonated explosives strapped to himself. Tamil extremists have frequently resorted to terrorist attacks against civilians. The next president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, vowed to restore peace to the country.
• On May 18, 2009 the conflict effectively ended when Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tamil Tigers, was killed in fighting in which government troops took the last bit of rebel�held territory. Early elections were called in October and held in January 2010. President Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide.
Economy • Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country. The chief crop is rice with which the country is almost self sufficient. Tea, rubber and coconut are also important agricultural crops, with tea being a major foreign exchange earner. In addition, other crops of importance are cocoa and spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper and cloves. Fruit and vegetables, native to both tropical and temperate regions, grow well in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is also a major exporter of precious and semi‐precious stones. Within the last few years remittances from Sri Lankans employed abroad have contributed a large share towards foreign exchange. The last three decades have seen tourism emerge as an important industry. There has also been a rapid growth in manufacturing industries which offer a wide range of export goods such as petroleum products, leather goods, ready made garments and electronic equipment.
Demography • Sri Lanka has a population of 18.5 million of whom the majority are Sinhalese (74%). Other ethnic groups are made up of Sri Lankan Tamils (12.6%), Indian Tamils (5.5%), Moors, Malays, Burghers (of Portuguese & Dutch descent) and others (7.9%). Although Sri Lanka is a multi‐religious country, Buddhists constitute the majority with 69.3%. Other religious groups are Hindus 15.5%, Muslims 7.6% and Christians 7.5%. Sri Lanka's literacy rate of 88.6% is one of the highest in Asia.
Sports • Sri Lanka is a nation of sportsmen. Many clubs offer temporary membership to visitors and some of the games include Cricket, Tennis, Swimming, Golf, Canoeing, Rowing, Rafting, Diving and Windsurfing. Other water based recreational facilities for Water Skiing, Sailing, Boating, Fishing, Yachting and Coastal Cruising are available in most beach resorts.
Great Expectations • The greatest challenge facing Sri Lanka is the quest for a just reconciliation to the ethnic issue through a democratic process coupled with a well planned economic strategy which will promote rapid development and equitably shared prosperity. The nation has stagnated in all respects as a consequence of the thirty year old ethnic conflict and now we need to fast track development, we need to keep hope alive to fulfill our dreams for a better Sri Lanka.
Entrance to the Yapahuwa Kingdom
Entrance to the Watadageya
sigiriya • Sri Lankan architectural tradition is well displayed at Sigiriya, the best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium, with its combination of buildings and gardens with their trees, pathways, water gardens, the fusion of symmetrical and asymmetrical elements, use of varying levels and of axial and radial planning. • The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts. Sigiri maidens
• sigiriya means 'Lion Rock' because it looks like a crouching lion from a distance. After a climb through the forest, you reached the gate, a 60 foot tall lion statue. Walking through its mouth accessed the staircase leading all the way to the top. Only the paws are left today. There were no guard rails back then.
sinharaja Sinharaja is the own tropical rainforest in Sri lanka it is very beautiful legends tell this vast forest was once the kingdom of lion. Hence the name sinharaja adaviya, the forest of the lion king. It is in the Rathnapura district. Sinharaja is the most famous forest in the world . • There are about 9000 hectares in the sinharaja. it is the first natural heritage in the world heritage list sinharaja is an attractive forest it has high degree of bio diversity. •
The biggest tree in sinharaja
• many people come to visit sinharaja .reserchers study about birds reptiles, trees ,insects and many kinds of animals in there, any one can study about many things in sinharaja. there are most valuable plants and animals. mosses,vines and wild orchid can see in sinharaja.
Nepenthes(the picher plant)
Common variety of butterfly
Samadhi buddha statue The Samadhi Buddha Statue, which probably dates from the 4th century AD, is a magnificent image of the Buddha in Samadhi, a Buddhist term for deep meditation, or more literally, concentration. Samadhi is used in connection with the practice of meditation and refers to the fixing of the attention on a single object, thus discouraging discursive thinking. Three degrees of intensity are distinguished: (1) preparatory concentration, (2) access concentration, and (3) attainment concentration.
Polonnaruwa The Polonnaruwa is the ancient city. From this chronicle we learn that Aggabodhi IV (667 ‐ 685) was the first Sri Lankan King who lived in Polonnaruwa, and the town came gradually to become the 'Country Residence' of royalty. Anuradhapura, the formal and administrative capital, was already a thousand years old, and kings increasingly favoured the new city of Polonnaruwa, and developed it. However it was the Cholas of South India who made Polonnaruwa the capital after looting and burning Anuradhapura The kuttam pokuna(the ancient pond
Kandy Kandy, the last royal capital of Sri Lanka is a major tourist destination. ( 115kM from Colombo at 465 meters above sea level). Famous for the Temple of the Tooth and many other temples the city could be called the cultural capital of the island. Kandy Perahera, the pageant of the temple of tooth where Buddha's tooth is kept is held either in July or August each year to parade the golden caskets is a must see itinerary if one is visiting Sri Lanka during these months. The final night procession is the most spectacular event of the country. More than 50 elephants parade the city accompanied by the drummers, dancers and chieftains.
Loss of International Credibility
The Right to Protect
Economic Rights
Development projects
Development projects
Ruhunu Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa port gets listed for international shipping routes. Two International cargo shipping lines route their shipping network through this new harbor from December 18. Both these ships will transport fertilizer. The first ship from China will call over on December 18 transporting 7,500 tons fertilizer, and will be stationed at the Rajapaksa port for three days. The second ship, from South East Asia will call over on December 23 and would be in the Port for four days. This ship will also transport fertilizer as loose cargo in packed plastic bags ready for use. The fertilizer transported by these two ships is to be distributed in the Southern, Uva and Central provinces.
The construction of Sri Lanka’s 2nd International Airport at Mattala in the Hambantota Project is progressing in full swing. This Project which will cover 2,000 hectares will cost U.S.$ 209 Million and the first phase will be completed by mid 2012. The project was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 27, last year in line with the Greater Hambantota City Development Program. The Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Aviation Mr. K.V.P.Ranjith de Silva said, the first flight will land in Mattala airport by mid 2012 upon completion of the first phase of the project.
Loss of International Credibility • Can the victory over the LTTE be considered a genuine triumph? Certainly not, if one sees it as the decimation of a misguided group of frustrated Tamil youth in whose hearts hatred was sown through decades of marginalization and discrimination as a minority.
The Right to Protect • The concept of the ‘Right to Protect’ is receiving prominence in the UN with the proliferation of dictatorial regimes using brutal and predatory tactics to harass and eliminate vulnerable groups of citizens seen as prejudicial to their interests. In response, the UN is increasingly assertive of its right to intervene in the interests of the victimized. Consequently, it is vital for the regime to treat the Tamil polity, particularly war victims, with genuine concern and compassion and respect their human, political and economic rights as citizens.
Economic Rights • If we are to achieve economic prosperity as a nation, then we need to consider the importance of economic rights of citizens in addition to political and human rights.
• The Sri Lankan Civil War (also known as the Eelam War), was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on‐and‐off insurgencey against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of the island. Most of the school in these areas were not infunction when the war is going on . The students had to suffer and they could not do their studies properly.After a 26 year long military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
• For over 25 years, the insurgency caused significant hardships for the population, environment and the economy of the country, with an estimated 80,000–100,000 people killed during its course. The tactics employed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam resulted in their being branded as a terrorist organization in 32 countries, including the United States, India, Australia, Canada and the member nations of the European Union. • After two decades of fighting and four failed attempts at peace talks, including the unsuccessful deployment of the Indian Army, the Indian Peace Keeping Force from 1987 to 1990, a lasting negotiated settlement to the conflict appeared possible when a cease‐fire was declared in December 2001, and a ceasefire agreement signed with international mediation in 2002.