U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
SRI LANKA BACKGROUND NOTE
JANUARY 1995
Official Name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Type: Republic.
Independence: February 4, 1948.
Constitution: August 31, 1978.
Suffrage: Universal over 18.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state and head of government),
elected for a 6-year term. Legislative--unicameral 225-member
parliament. Judicial--Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, High Court,
subordinate courts.
Administrative subdivisions: Eight provinces and 25 administrative
districts.
Political parties: United National Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party,
others represented in either parliament or provincial councils, and
several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties.
GDP: $11 billion.
Annual growth rate: 5.5%.
Per capita GDP: $600.
Natural resources: Limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphate.
Agriculture (20% of GDP): Major products--rice, tea, rubber, coconuts,
spices.
Industry (20% of GDP): Major products-- garments, chemicals, refined
petroleum, wood products, basic metal products, and paper products.
Trade: Exports--$3.1 billion; garments, tea, rubber, gems, refined
petroleum, coconuts. Major markets--U.S. ($1.2 billion), Germany, U.K.,
Belgium, Japan, Netherlands. Imports--$4.4 billion. Major suppliers--
Japan, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, U.K., Singapore, U.S.
($200 million).
Official exchange rate (Dec. 1994): Rupees (Rs.) 49=$1.
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) is an island in the Indian Ocean approximately 28 kilometers (18 mi.) off the southeastern coast of India with a population of about 17.4 million. Density is highest in the southwest where Colombo, the country's capital, main port, and industrial center, is located. The net population growth is about 1.3%.
Sri Lanka is ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse. Sinhalese make up 74% of the population and are concentrated in the densely populated southwest. Ceylon Tamils, citizens whose South Indian ancestors have lived on the island for centuries, total about 12% and live predominantly in the north and east.
Indian Tamils, a distinct ethnic group, represent about 6% of the population. The British brought Indian Tamils to Sri Lanka in the 19th century as tea and rubber plantation workers and they remain concentrated in the "tea country" of south-central Sri Lanka. In accordance with a 1964 agreement with India, Sri Lanka granted citizenship to 230,000 "stateless" Indian Tamils in 1988. Under the pact, India granted citizenship to the remainder, some 200,000 of whom now live in India. Another 92,000 Indian Tamils who themselves or whose parents once applied for Indian citizenship now wish to remain in Sri Lanka. Although technically not citizens of Sri Lanka, the Government has stated that this group will not be forced to return to India.
Other minorities include Muslims (both Moors and Malays), at about 7% of the population; Burghers, who are descendants of European colonists, principally from the Netherlands and the U.K.; and aboriginal Veddahs.
Most Sinhalese are Buddhist; most Tamils are Hindu. The majority of Sri Lanka's Muslims practice Sunni Islam. Sizable minorities of both Sinhalese and Tamils are Christians, most of whom are Roman Catholic. The 1978 constitution, while assuring freedom of religion, grants primacy to Buddhism.
Sinhala, an Indo-European language, is the native tongue of the Sinhalese. Tamils and most Muslims speak Tamil, part of the South Indian Dravidian linguistic group. Use of English has declined since independence, but it continues to be spoken by many in the middle and upper middle classes, particularly in Colombo. Both Sinhala and Tamil are official languages.
The actual origins of the Sinhalese are shrouded in myth. Most believe that they came to Sri Lanka from northern India during the 6th century BC. Buddhism arrived from the subcontinent 300 years later and spread rapidly. Buddhism and a sophisticated system of irrigation became the pillars of classical Sinhalese civilization (200 BC-1200 AD) that flourished in the north-central part of the island. Invasions from southern India, combined with internecine strife, pushed Sinhalese kingdoms southward.
The island's contact with the outside world began early. Roman sailors called the island Taprobane. Arab traders knew it as "Serendip," the root of the word "serendipity." Beginning in 1505, Portuguese traders, in search of cinnamon and other spices, seized the island's coastal areas and spread Catholicism. The Dutch supplanted the Portuguese in 1658. Although the Dutch were ejected by the British in 1796, Dutch law remains an important part of Sri Lankan jurisprudence. In 1815, the British defeated the king of Kandy, last of the native rulers, and created the Crown Colony of Ceylon. They established a plantation economy based on tea, rubber, and coconuts. In 1931, the British granted Ceylon limited self-rule and universal franchise. Ceylon became independent on February 4, 1948.
Post-Independence Politics. Sri Lankan politics since independence have been strongly democratic. Two major parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have generally alternated rule.
The UNP ruled first from 1948-56 under three prime ministers--D.S. Senanayake, his son Dudley, and Sir John Kotelawala. The SLFP ruled from 1956-65, with a short hiatus in 1960, first under S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and then, after his assassination in 1959, under his widow, Sirima. Dudley Senanayake and the UNP returned to power in 1965.
In 1970, Mrs. Bandaranaike assumed the premiership. A year later, an insurrection by followers of the Maoist "Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna" (JVP, or "People's Liberation Front") broke out. The SLFP government suppressed the revolt and declared a state of emergency that would last six years. In 1972, Mrs. Bandaranaike's Government introduced a new constitution, which changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, declared it a republic, made protection of Buddhism a constitutional principle, and created a weak president appointed by the prime minister. Its economic policies during this period were highly socialist and included the nationalization of large tea and rubber plantations.
The UNP, under J.R. Jayewardene, returned to power in 1977. The Jayewardene Government opened the economy and, in 1978, introduced a new constitution based on the French model, a key element of which was the creation of a strong presidency.
President Jayewardene was elected president by parliament in 1978 and by nationwide elections in 1982. By a 1982 referendum, the life of parliament was extended by another six years.
The UNP's Ranasinghe Premadasa, Prime Minister in the Jayewardene Government, narrowly defeated Mrs. Bandaranaike (SLFP) in the 1988 presidential elections. The UNP also won an absolute majority in the 1989 parliamentary elections. Mr. Premadasa was assassinated on May 1, 1993, and was replaced by then-Prime Minister Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, who appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe to be Prime Minister.
The SLFP, the main party in the PeopleÔs Alliance (PA) coalition, returned to power in 1994 for the first time in 17 years. The People's Alliance won a plurality in the August 1994 parliamentary elections and formed a coalition government with Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga as Prime Minister. Prime Minister Kumaratunga later won the November 1994 presidential elections and appointed her mother (former Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike) to replace her as Prime Minister.
Communal Crisis. Historical divisions continue to have an impact on Sri Lankan society and politics. From independence, the Tamil minority has been uneasy with the country's unitary form of government and wary that the Sinhalese majority would abuse Tamil rights. Those fears were reinforced when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike triumphed in the 1956 elections after appealing to Sinhalese nationalism. Declaring Sinhala the country's official language--felt by Tamils to be a denigration of their own tongue--was the first in a series of steps over the following decades that appeared discriminatory to Tamils.
The decades following 1956 saw intermittent outbreaks of communal violence and growing radicalization among Tamil groups. By the mid- 1970s Tamil politicians were moving from support for federalism to a demand for a separate Tamil state--"Tamil Eelam"--in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. In the 1977 elections, the separatist TULF won all seats in Tamil areas. Other groups--particularly the "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" (LTTE)--sought an independent state by force.
In 1983, the death of 13 Sinhalese soldiers at the hands of Tamil militants unleashed the largest outburst of communal violence in the country's history. Hundreds of Tamils were killed in Colombo and elsewhere, tens of thousands were left homeless, and more than 100,000 fled to South India. Members of the TULF lost their seats in parliament when they refused to swear a loyalty oath. The north and east became the scene of bloodshed as security forces attempted to suppress the LTTE and other militant groups. Terrorist incidents occurred in Colombo and other cities. Each side in the conflict accused the other of violating human rights. The conflict assumed an international dimension when the Sri Lankan Government accused India of supporting Tamil insurgents.
Indian Peace-keeping. By mid-1987, the situation had reached an apparent impasse. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Sri Lanka brought India directly into its communal dispute. Under a July 29, 1987, accord signed by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President Jayewardene, the Sri Lankan Government made a number of concessions to Tamil demands, which included devolution of power to the provinces, merger (subject to later referendum) of the northern and eastern provinces, and official status for the Tamil language. India agreed to establish order in the north and east with an Indian Peace-keeping Force (IPKF) and to cease assisting Tamil insurgents. Militant groups, although initially reluctant, agreed to surrender their arms to the IPKF.
Within weeks, however, the LTTE declared its intent to continue its armed struggle for an independent Tamil Eelam and refused to surrender arms. The 50,000-strong IPKF found itself engaged in a bloody police action against the LTTE.
Meanwhile, the Government of Sri Lanka moved ahead with the promised devolution of power. By late 1988, all eight provincial council elections had been held. Further complicating the return to peace was a burgeoning Sinhalese insurgency in the south. The JVP, relatively quiescent since the 1971 insurrection, began to reassert itself in 1987. Capitalizing on opposition to the Indo-Lankan accord in the Sinhalese community, the JVP launched an intimidation campaign against supporters of the accord. Numerous UNP and other government supporters were assassinated. The government, relieved of its security burden by the IPKF in the north and east, intensified its efforts in the south. The JVP was crushed but at a high cost in human lives.
From April 1989 through June 1990, the government engaged in direct communications with the LTTE leadership. In the meantime, fighting between the LTTE and the IPKF had escalated in the north. Finally, India withdrew all of its forces from Sri Lanka by May 1990, and fighting between the LTTE and the government recommenced. Both the LTTE and government forces have been accused of serious human rights violations. In January 1995, the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE agreed to a cessation of hostilities as a preliminary step in a government-initiated plan for peace negotiations.
Separatist violence is largely confined to the Northeastern province, which is 6 to 8 hours by road from the capital. However, terrorist bombings directed against politicians and others have occurred in Colombo and elsewhere in the country.
Sri Lanka's two major political parties--the UNP and the SLFP--embrace democratic values, international non-alignment, and encouragement of Sinhalese culture. Past differences between the two on foreign and economic policy have narrowed. The SLFP, however, still has a stronger social-welfare orientation than the UNP and still envisions a broader role for the state in governance in general.
In the last general election, held August 15, 1994, Tamil parties, including the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), and the Eelam People's Democratic Front (EPDF), and a Muslim party, the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC), won key swing votes in the parliament.
Political assassinations have become commonplace and have included the bomb killing of President Premadasa on May 1, 1993. Other prominent national leaders and senior military personnel have been targets and/or victims of terrorist violence. In April 1994, four bombs exploded at Colombo hotels and a group calling itself the "Ellalan Force" has threatened to target foreigners. In October 1994, UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake and 53 UNP supporters were killed during an October campaign rally by a terrorist bombing.
The People's Alliance government, which was elected in 1994, entered into preliminary peace negotiations with LTTE in mid-October, but a second round of talks was canceled after the assassination of opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake. In her November 1994 inaugural address, President Kumaratunga announced her intention to resume peace talks with the LTTE. President Kumaratunga also said her government would propose constitutional changes which would shift powers from the presidency to the office of the prime minister.
The president of the republic, directly elected for a 6-year term, is chief of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. Responsible to parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, the president may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court.
The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to parliament. The president's deputy is the prime minister, who leads the ruling party in parliament. A parliamentary no confidence vote requires dissolution of the cabinet and the appointment of a new one by the president.
Parliament is a unicameral 225-member legislature elected by universal suffrage and proportional representation to a 6-year term. The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve parliament. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws.
Sri Lanka's judiciary consists of a supreme court, a court of appeals, a high court, and a number of subordinate courts. Sri Lanka's legal system reflects diverse cultural influences. Criminal law is fundamentally British. Basic civil law is Roman-Dutch. Laws pertaining to marriage, divorce, inheritance are communal.
Under the Indo-Sri Lankan accord of July 1987, the Government of Sri Lanka agreed to devolve significant authority to the provinces. Provincial councils are directly elected for 5-year terms. The leader of the council majority serves as the province's chief minister; a provincial governor is appointed by the president. Councils possess powers in education, health, rural development, social services, agriculture, security, and local taxation. Many of these powers are shared, or subject to central government oversight. Predating the accord are municipal, urban, and rural councils with limited powers.
President--Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
Prime Minister--Sirima Bandaranaike
Foreign Minister--Lakshman Kadirgamar
Ambassador--Designate to the United States--Jayantha Dhanapala
Ambassador to the United Nations--Dr. Stanley Kalpage
Sri Lanka maintains an embassy in the United States at 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20008. (Tel. 202-483-4025).
With an economy of about $11 billion a year, and per capita GDP of $600, Sri Lanka has been coping with a decade long civil insurgency. In 1989, GDP growth fell to a low of 2%, but recovered and hit a high of 7% in 1993. With several rounds of local and national elections in 1994, growth fell to about 5.2%. The forecast for 1995 is clouded, as the private sector awaits proof that the new government will deliver on its promises of creating an environment conducive to vigorous, private- sector growth.
The service sector is the largest component of GDP (50%), partly reflecting an extensive government apparatus and welfare state, but also including a rapidly growing tourism sector. The booming industrial sector now accounts for 20% of GDP. Garment manufacturing dominates industry.
Agriculture, the traditional leading sector, contributes 20% of GDP and provides employment to about half the population. Rice, the staple cereal, is cultivated extensively. The plantation sector--tea, rubber, and coconut--also is a major employer and, until the recent growth of the textile industry, provided the bulk of export earnings.
Since 1990, a successful new stock exchange has been founded; all exchange controls on current account transactions have been eliminated; and more than 40 state firms have been privatized. Generous tax policies and other incentives have made Sri Lanka attractive to outside investors. Direct foreign investment inflows were about $200 million in 1994. The expectation is that investment inflows will continue to rise and that GDP growth should average 5% to 6% for the remainder of the decade.
Trade and Foreign Assistance. Exports to the United States--Sri Lanka's single most important export market--were valued at over $1 billion in 1994. The U.S. was Sri Lanka's largest market for textiles in 1994, followed by Germany, UK, and Japan. Japan was Sri Lanka's largest source of imports in 1994, followed by East and South Asian nations such as India and Hong Kong. Imports from the U.S. amounted to about $200 million in 1994.
Sri Lanka is highly dependent on foreign assistance and has received about $500 million a year since 1990. With the end of the JVP insurrection and a systematic decline in human rights abuses by the security forces, Western donor countries have increased support of Sri Lanka's economic liberalization programs. Foreign assistance has been critical in the successful development of the large Mahaweli River Basin Project, privatization of state-run industry, development of the stock exchange, and the building of infrastructure.
Labor. Perhaps one-quarter of Sri Lanka's 6.8 million labor force is unionized, with more than 1,300 registered unions and 10 federations. The largest labor group is the National Trade Union Conference. Many unions are affiliated with political parties. One of the largest unions is the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), which represents Indian Tamil workers on tea and rubber plantations. It claims a membership of 360,000. Its president, S. Thondaman, is Minister of Livestock Development and Rural Industries. The CWC's agenda includes political issues, such as citizenship status for stateless Indian Tamils.
Sri Lanka follows a nonaligned foreign policy. It participates in multilateral diplomacy, particularly at the United Nations, where it seeks to promote sovereignty, independence, and development in the developing world. Sri Lanka was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and hosted its 1976 summit. It also is a member of the Commonwealth, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, and the Colombo Plan. Sri Lanka continues its active participation in the Non-Aligned Movement, while also stressing the importance it places on regionalism by playing a strong role in SAARC.
The United States enjoys cordial relations with Sri Lanka that are based, in large part, on shared democratic traditions. U.S. policy toward Sri Lanka is characterized by respect for its independence, sovereignty, and moderate, non-aligned foreign policy; support for the country's unity, territorial integrity, and democratic institutions; and encouragement of its social and economic development.
U.S. assistance has totaled more than $1.3 billion since Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), it has contributed to Sri Lanka's economic growth with projects designed to reduce unemployment, improve housing, and develop the Colombo stock exchange. In 1994, the U.S. delivered about $55 million in aid, including about $25 million in free wheat, $18 million in low interest 40-year loans for additional wheat, and about $12 million in a variety of other direct assistance activities.
In addition, U.S. Peace Corps volunteers are active in much of Sri Lanka; the Voice of America operates a radio transmitter; and U.S. Naval vessels call regularly at Colombo.
Ambassador--Teresita C. Schaffer
Deputy Chief of Mission--John Boardman
Political Counselor--Scott DeLisi
Economic Counselor--Nicholas Riegg
Administrative Officer--Judy Chammas
Consular Officer--Brian Oberle
Defense Attache--Lt. Col. Carl Cockrum
Director, AID Mission--David Cohen
Counselor for Public Affairs (USIS)--Duncan MacInnes
The U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka is located at 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 (tel: 94-1-448007, fax: 94-1-437345). U.S. Agency for International Development offices are located at 356 Galle Road, Colombo 3 (tel: 94-1- 574333; fax: 94-1-574264). U.S. Information Service offices are located at 44 Galle Road, Colombo 3. (tel: 94-1-421271, fax: 94-1-449070). Peace Corps offices are located at 50/5 Siripa Road, Colombo 5 (tel: 94- 1-687617). Voice of America offices are located at 228/1 Galle Road, Colombo 4 (tel: 94-1-589245, fax: 94-1-502675).
The following are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37194, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. To order, call (202) 512-1800 or fax: (202) 512-2250.
American University. Area Handbook for Sri Lanka.
U.S. Department of Commerce. "Sri Lanka." Foreign Economic Trends and Their Implications for the United States. Annual.
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State Dispatch. Weekly magazine.
U.S. Department of State. Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts: Guide for Business Representatives. Biannual.
U.S. Foreign Affairs on CD-ROM (USFAC). USFAC contains a wealth of foreign policy information released by the U.S. Department of State, 1990-1994. Updated quarterly, USFAC is available from the Superintendent of Documents (see address under "Further Information" above).
Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN). Major reports, speeches, transcripts, and a variety of official U.S. Department of State publications are now available on a daily basis on the Internet.
To access current foreign policy information, point your gopher client to: dosfan.lib.uic.edu. The Universal Resource Locator (URL) for DOSFAN on the Internet is: gopher://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/. On the World Wide Web, connect to the URL at: http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/dosfan.html.
Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington, DC -- 0000 Editor: Deborah Guido-O'Grady with Dan Lawton, Office of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Bureau of South Asian Affairs.
Department of State Publication Background Notes Series--This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission; citation of this source is appreciated.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. (###)
