Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0337/03375.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 29KB | 469 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03375}
$Pretitle{296}
$Title{Sri Lanka
Chapter 2A.   Society and its Environment}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Peter R. Blood}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{sri
population
lanka
percent
highlands
dry
tamil
zone
1980s
central}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Figure 3.*0337501.scf
Figure 4.*0337502.scf
Figure 5.*0337503.scf
Figure 6.*0337504.scf
}
Country:     Sri Lanka
Book:        Sri Lanka, A Country Study
Author:      Peter R. Blood
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1990

Chapter 2A.   Society and its Environment

     Sri Lanka lies practically in the center of the Indian Ocean and thus has
climatic and cultural links with three continents. Monsoon winds, driving
against Sri Lanka's peaks, support lush vegetation on the southern half of the
island, but the northern half is a dry zone. The winds affect human culture as
well, having brought wave after wave of immigrants and merchants following the
southerly trade routes. Outsiders found a wide range of ecological niches on
the coast, on the plains, or in the mountains, and they built a remarkably
variegated civilization. Merchants long have sought Sri Lanka as the source of
pearls, jewels, spices, and tea. Visitors for centuries have marvelled at the
beauty and great diversity of the island.

     The South Asian landmass to the north has strongly influenced Sri Lankan
culture in the past and continues to do so. From an outlander's perspective,
some of the main aspects of Sri Lankan society--language, caste, family
structure--are regional variants of Indian civilization. From the perspective
of the islander, however, the Indian influence is but the largest part of a
continuing barrage of stimuli coming to Sri Lanka from all sides. The people
of the island have absorbed these influences and built their own civilization.

     The Sinhalese (see Glossary), a distinct ethnic group speaking the
Sinhala (see Glossary) language and practicing a variant of Theravada Buddhism
(see Glossary), comprise the majority--74 percent--of the population, and
their values dominate public life. There are, however, substantial minority
groups. The Tamils, speaking the Tamil language and generally practicing
Hinduism, comprise almost 18 percent of the population. Muslims, many of whom
speak Tamil as their main language, make up 7 percent of the populace. Each of
the main ethnic groups is subdivided into several major categories, depending
on variables of religion or geography. There also are sizable Christian
minorities among the Sinhalese and Tamil. People living in the central
highland region of the country generally adhere more closely to their
traditional ethnic customs than lowland dwellers.

     Caste creates other social divisions. The Goyigama (see Glossary) caste
of the Sinhalese--traditionally associated with land cultivation--is dominant
in population and public influence, but in the lowlands other castes based on
commercial activities are influential. The Tamil Vellala caste resembles the
Goyigama in its dominance and traditional connection with agriculture, but it
is completely separate from the Sinhalese caste hierarchy. Within their
separate caste hierarchies, Sinhalese and Tamil communities are fragmented
through customs that separate higher from lower orders. These include
elaborate rules of etiquette and a nearly complete absence of intercaste
marriages. Differences in wealth arising from the modern economic system have
created, however, 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 potential conflict.

     The population of Sri Lanka has grown considerably since independence in
1948, and in the 1980s was increasing by approximately 200,000 people or 1.37
percent each year. Because of this population pressure, the government has
faced a major development problem as it has attempted to reconcile the
divergent interests of caste, class, and ethnic groups while trying to ensure
adequate food, education, health services, and career opportunities for the
rapidly expanding population. Politicians and officials have attempted to meet
these needs through a form of welfare socialism, providing a level of support
services that is comparatively high for a developing nation. Building on
colonial foundations, Sri Lanka has created a comprehensive education system,
including universities, that has produced one of the best-educated populations
in Asia. A free state-run health system provides basic care that has raised
average life expectancy to the highest level in South Asia. Ambitious housing
and sanitation plans, although incomplete, promised basic amenities to all
citizens by the year 2000. In 1988 the government addressed the nutritional
deficiencies of the poor through a subsidized food stamp program and free
nutrition programs for children and mothers.

     The crucial problem facing Sri Lanka's plural society is whether it can
evolve a form of socialism that will address the needs of all groups, or
whether frustrated aspirations will engender further conflict. In the field of
education, for example, excellent accomplishments in elementary schooling have
emerged alongside bitter competition for coveted places in the university
system; this competition has fueled ethnic hatred between the Sinhalese and
Tamil communities. In a land with limited resources, the benefits of social
welfare programs highlight the inadequacies of progress for some regional or
ethnic groups. In these circumstances, caste, ethnic, or religious differences
become boundaries between warring parties, and a person's language or place of
worship becomes a sign of political affiliation. The social organization of
Sri Lanka is thus an important component of the politics and economy in the
developing nation.

The Physical Environment

Geology

     More than 90 percent of Sri Lanka's surface lies on Precambrian strata,
some of it dating back 2 billion years. The metamorphic rock surface was
created by the transformation of ancient sediments under intense heat and
pressure during mountain- building processes. The theory of plate tectonics
suggests that these rocks and related rocks forming most of south India were
part of a single southern landmass called Gondwanaland. Beginning about 200
million years ago, forces within the earth's mantle began to separate the
lands of the Southern Hemisphere, and a crustal plate supporting both India
and Sri Lanka moved toward the northeast. About 45 million years ago, the
Indian plate collided with the Asian landmass, raising the Himalayas in
northern India, and continuing to advance slowly to the present time. Sri
Lanka experiences few earthquakes or major volcanic events because it rides on
the center of the plate.

     The island contains relatively limited strata of sedimentation
surrounding its ancient hills. Aside from recent deposits along river valleys,
only two small fragments of Jurassic (140 to 190 million years ago) sediment
occur in Puttalam District, while a more extensive belt of Miocene (5 to 20
million years ago) limestone is found along the northwest coast, overlain in
many areas by Pleistocene (1 million years ago) deposits (see fig. 1). The
northwest coast is part of the deep Cauvery (Kaveri) River Basin of southeast
India, which has been collecting sediments from the highlands of India and Sri
Lanka since the breakup of Gondwanaland.

Topography

[See Figure 3.: Diagram of Hill Country of Sri Lanka.]

     Extensive faulting and erosion over time have produced a wide range of
topographic features, making Sri Lanka one of the most scenic places in the
world. Three zones are distinguishable by elevation: the Central Highlands,
the plains, and the coastal belt (see fig. 3).

     The south-central part of Sri Lanka--the rugged Central Highlands--is the
heart of the country. The core of this area is a high plateau, running
north-south for approximately sixty-five kilometers. This a