According to 3R Jewelry, Sri Lanka is an island state of the Indian Ocean. Seat of the ancient Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura (3rd century BC-10th century AD) and in the north of a Tamil kingdom from the 13th century to the beginning of the 16th century. the island of Ceylon was reached by the Portuguese, who settled on the coast, while inside a new Sinhalese kingdom was formed, independent until 1815. The Dutch dominion (1658) and then the English one (1796) took over the Portuguese dominion. In the first decades of the 20th century. forms of self-government were gradually introduced and in 1948 the country became independent within the Commonwealth, with a parliamentary constitution and a conservative government, formed in 1947 by the United national party (UNP). In the mid-1950s difficulties emerged in the economic system, inherited from the colonial era. Social discontent favored the electoral victory of the nationalist and progressive Sri Lanka freedom party (SLFP) in 1956: Salomon Bandaranaike adopted a moderately reformist policy and in 1957 he obtained the closure of the British military bases, but some nationalist measures (adoption of Sinhala as an official language; strengthening of Buddhist identity) caused tensions with the Tamil minority. In 1959 Bandaranaike was assassinated; he was succeeded by his widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike who set up a new government (1960), which the Trotskyist party also joined (1964). After a conservative government (1965-70) Sri Lanka Bandaranaike returned (1970) to the leadership of the executive (formed by a coalition between the SLFP and the Communist and Trotskyist parties) and in 1972 proclaimed the Republic of Sri Lanka. The policy of nationalization and strengthening of the role of the state was increased in response to the international energy crisis and a difficult economic situation in the country. The government responded to the strong social tensions with an authoritarian policy; consequently, the Trotsky (1975) and Communist (1977) parties left the coalition. The UNP returned to the leadership of the government in 1977 with R. Jayawardene, who in 1978 passed a new Constitution (Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka) and adopted a liberal economic policy. From the early 1980s the conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority intensified. The government adopted an intransigent line, among other things favoring the settlement of Sinhalese in the eastern province, while in the northern one the separatist groups gave life to the armed struggle. In 1987 an agreement between the government of Colombo and that of New Delhi (which had supported the Tamils) accepted some claims of the separatists, proclaiming among other things Tamil (in addition to Sinhala) the official language of the country. An Indian Interposition Force (IPKF) was deployed, taking control of the Northern Province in 1988. and came into conflict with the separatist forces. Among these, the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) occupied the Jaffna Peninsula in 1990. The People’s Liberation Front gave birth (1987-89) to a violent terrorist campaign in the south of the country, severely repressed. R. Jayawardene was succeeded in 1989 by R. Premadasa (UNP) and, after his assassination (1993), by Dingri Banda Wijetunga. In 1994 Chandrika Kumaratunga became president, leader of the SLFP, with a coalition government and mother Sri Lanka Bandaranaike as prime minister. In 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president. From 1995-96 the government launched repeated violent offensives in the northern province, but without significant results until 2009, when the decisive attack on the LTTE strongholds was launched. With the death of Vellupillai Prabhakara (May 2009) the civil war ended, in which ca. 80 thousand people.
Population. – It was 5,312,548 residents in 1931 and 6,695,605 in 1946 (including non-resident military personnel). Given that in 1921 the population was 4,504,549 residents, In the decade 1921-31 there was an increase of 17, 94%, passing in the following five years to 26.03%; in the last 40 years the population has almost doubled.
Communications. – The railways have a length of 2170 km., Including 705 km. on plantations.
Foreign trade. – In the five-year period 1941-45 exports (average 562 million rupees) greatly exceeded imports (average 412 million rupees).
Constitution. – In November-December 1947 the English Parliament passed a law that confers on Ceylon the status of Dominion within the English Commonwealth. The island will thus acquire administrative autonomy, with a bicameral parliament and its own legislative competence in internal matters. For relations with foreign countries, the new state and Great Britain have agreed on mutual assistance for the defense and protection of their respective territories and communications of major importance. Great Britain has the right to keep armed forces on the island and to use the air and naval bases it has built there.
