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The majority of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese,
accounting to 74% of the population in the country. Proud of
a rich and long history, dating back to over 2000 years, the
Sinhalese community mainly inhabits in the central, west and
south of the country. The old Sinhalese Kings are known to
have built master irrigational systems and lived
self-sufficiently. Buddhism is the religion of the Sinhalese
people and was introduced to Sri Lanka in 3 rd centuary BC.
The rich culture, art and architecture derives essence from
Buddhism.
The Tamils are the second largest community and accounts for
14% of the population. Divided between Ceylon Tamils and
Indian Tamils, this community mainly inhabits in the North,
Northeast and Central provinces. The Indian Tamils have
migrated to Sri lanka during the time of the Birtish rulers
to work on tea plantations etc and have settled in the
Central Province of the country in the tea estates. The
Ceylon Tamils have a 1000year long history in Sri Lanka and
are mainly living in the Jaffna peninsula. The two
communities are largely Hindu devotees and have a similar
culture and caste system different from the Sinhalese.
The Muslim community which accounts for 7% of the population
practice the Islam religion and have settled in the east
coastal belt of Sri Lanka. With a history dating back to
about 1000 years, the Muslims first arrived from Arab to Sri
Lanka for trade purposes and later settled in the coastal
area.
The fourth significant community is the Burgher community
and are descendants of Portuguese or Dutch. Spread around
the west coastal belt, this community is either Roman
Catholic or Christian (Dutch Reformed Church) |
