Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island lying in the Indian Ocean.
Its position is 22 miles southeast of India,
seperated by the Gulf of Manaar. To get to the Indian subcontinent the
21,8 miles long "Adams-bridge" has been built. The name of the
capital is Colombo which is in the south-west.
There are about 17,5 million inhabitants on the island. The official language
is Sinhala, spoken by more than 70 percent of the population. Other languages
are Tamil, a language of south India, and English from the former time
as an british crown colony.
The exact size is 270 miles length and 140 miles width.
The full name is: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Climate
With its location: 5`55`` - 9`51`` Latitude and 79`42`` - 81`52``
Sri Lanka is a country lying
in the tropical zone of the world. It is hot and humid.
How English found its way into that part of the world
In 1517 the Portoguese have made friendly relationships
with the former Ceylon.
Some time later the Dutch gained control after a long battle with the Portuguese
Then in 1795 the british government sent a expeditionary fleet to Ceylon.
One year later the Dutch capitulated and in 1798 the British made all the
island a crown colony.
The rule of Britain was marked by three civil wars in 1817, 1843 and 1848.
Violent social-religious struggles also occured between moneylanders and
traders, mostly Muslims and Sinhalese peasants, chiefly Buddhists. But
in 1830 all the native people of Ceylon struggled to get a represantative
government and most of all national freedom. Then, one century later, in
1931 they had the first real success on the way to a self-governed country.
Britain conceded a new constitution which granted a semiautonomous control
ocer the affairs of the government. And furthermore indignity for all the
people. Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, took a very important part in the
second World War as base for the Americans against the Japanese army.
The official languages are Sinhala, spoken by 72% of the population, and Tamil. English is used in commerce and government and near universally understood. There are a lot of English-speaking newspapers and magazines on the web.
