Ethnic Of Sri Lanka

The principal ethnic groups in Sri Lanka are the Sinhalese, who form the majority, and the Tamils, who form the largest minority. These two groups tend to be concentrated in different areas of the country, depending on where they settled historically. Their different languages and religions are additional sources of isolation and ethnic tensions, which have existed for centuries. In 1983 these ethnic tensions escalated into a civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and Tamil separatists, who demanded that the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka be made an independent Tamil nation.

The Sinhalese constitute more than 70 percent of the population. They form an even greater majority in southwestern Sri Lanka, where their population is concentrated. They are descended from people who began to migrate to the island from northern India about 500 bc. They speak a distinct language, Sinhala, and traditionally practice Buddhism.

Tamils made up about 18 percent of the population at the 1991 census. Their proportion of the population has since declined, mostly as a result of immigration to India. Tamils speak a language called Tamil. They traditionally practice Hinduism, although a small percentage are Christians. Tamils originally immigrated to Sri Lanka from southern India. Those known as Sri Lankan Tamils trace their origins to ancient migrations, whereas the so-called Indian Tamils came as migrant workers during the 19th century.

Muslims are considered both an ethnic and religious group in Sri Lanka. They constitute about 8 percent of the population. The great majority are descendants of Arab traders known as Moors who settled in coastal areas from the 700s to the 1400s. They speak a modified version of Tamil that includes many Arabic words. Malayan peoples, whose ancestors came from what is now Indonesia in the 1600s, constitute a small proportion of Sri Lanka’s Muslim population.

Other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka include Burghers, a term used in Sri Lanka for people of mostly European (Dutch and Portuguese) descent, and the indigenous people of the island, commonly known as Veddas. Together, these two groups account for less than 1 percent of the population.