The teardrop shaped island of Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait. Rugged central uplands give way to fertile plains in the north. The majority Sinhalese, an Indo-Aryan people originating in northern India, have a Buddhist-based identity. Independent since 1948, Sri Lanka suffered from 1983 from a protracted civil war involving the attempted secession of the minority (and mainly Hindu) Tamils in the north and east.

Ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka focus on the two-decade-long conflict between the minority, Hindu, Tamils and majority, Buddhist, Sinhalese. Favored by the British colonial administration, the Tamils were subject to attempts by the Sinhalese to redress the balance after independence. The Tamil Tigers seek an autonomous Tamil homeland in the north. A tentative peace was reached in 2002.

The Moors are the Muslim decendants of ancient Arab traders. Few indigenous forest-dwelling Veddhas survive in the remote east.

Strengths

World's largest tea exporter. Foreign investment attracted by privatization, despite left-wing stance of President Kumaratunga.

Weaknesses

Civil war has drained government funds, and lingering tensions continue to deter investors and many tourists. High unemployment.

Sri Lankan politics has been indelibly colored by the 20-year civil war which has claimed more than 50,000 lives. Breakthrough came in 2001 when the left-wing PA government was soundly beaten in elections by the right-of-center UNP. Under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, the UNP sought to bring a swift end to the conflict. A permanent cease-fire was agreed in 2002, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) hinted that they were willing to drop their long-standing demand for an independent state. The conservative Buddhist clergy remain a powerful influence, helping to preserve Sinhalese nationalism, and opposing compromise with the Tamils.

Relations with India are paramount. However, India's role as peacemaker under the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan accords was fiercely resisted by the Tamil Tigers, and India was forced to withdraw its peacekeeping troops. In recent years Norway has taken on the role of mediator in the conflict.

Recent drives to recruit 5000 more soldiers have shown a marked shift in policy away from simply enlarging the army to modernizing it.

Sri Lanka has to import all its oil. Hydropower supplies around 70% of electricity; droughts are frequent and supplies can be erratic. Sri Lanka is keen to diversify power sources and is turning to coal-powered generation.

Sri Lanka has successfully promoted national parks. Their development is opposed by the Veddha people, who have traditionally occupied such land.

Main roads are crowded and slow. Travel to the Tamil-dominated north and east is being reopened.

Years of high spending on health have resulted in an accessible, fee-free system. Ayurvedic medicine is popular.

Sri Lanka has a high literacy rate for a developing nation. Many Sri Lankans attend US universities.

Extrajudicial killings, accompanied by other human rights abuses, increased the toll of deaths and disappearances during the civil war. New laws are being introduced to combat sex tourism.

Economic growth has created a new class of wealthy Sinhalese. Tamil tea workers are the poorest group.

Sri Lanka remains a popular destination, despite the civil war. A Tamil attack in 2001 on the military air base next to Colombo's Bandaranaike international airport threatened the lives of dozens of tourists.

Sri Lanka has been inhabited by the Tamils and Sinhalese since before the 6th century. Named Ceylon under the British Empire, the island became independent in 1948.

• 1948 Indian Tamil workers stripped of suffrage and citizenship rights.
• 1956 SLFP wins election, promotes Sinhalese language.
• 1972 Country renamed Sri Lanka.
• 1983 Tamil Tigers begin civil war.
• 1993 President Premadasa killed.
• 1994 Left-wing PA wins election; Chandrika Kumaratunga president.
• 1995–1996 Collapse of peace talks.
• 1999 Kumaratunga reelected.
• 2000 Sirimavo Bandaranaike, world's first woman prime minister, dies.
• 2001 UNP wins early elections.
• 2002 Comprehensive cease-fire promises end to civil war.