Sri Lanka: the role of colonization in the conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils.

My presentation will focus on Sri Lanka and especially on the conflict which is going on there since 30 years, between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil separatists.
We don’t receive a lot of informations about it and, those we get are difficult to analyse so we’ll try to look at the roots of the conflict which may be found in the colonial period.

Sri Lanka, officially known as “Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka” is an island nation located about 30 km of the southern coast of India. It was formerly known as Ceylan.
It represents nearly 20 millions of people for a density of about 320 inhabitants per square kilometre. Obviously: density is the greatest on the western coast and especially around Colombo which is the economic & commercial capital city and the most populated city of Sri Lanka.
The official languages are Sinhalese and Tamil which are the dialects of the 2 main ethnies of the island (Sinhaleses and Tamils). English is spoken by nearly 10% of the population, mainly for commercial and scientific purposes.
Sri Lanka has been granted independence in 1948 from the United Kingdom.
This is its flag which represents the multiethnicity of the island. Indeed the yellow colour represents the Sinhalese people while the 2 stripes on the left stand for the minorities (green stands for the Muslim community/ orange stands for the Tamil community). The lion is the emblem of Sri Lanka since many centuries and the 4 leaves in the corners represent the sacred tree under which the Buddha meditated.

I give you some figures, some economic indicators. I let you read them.
What is important to know is that these figures have really to be took with caution. Indeed it has been very difficult for me to find precise figures as both sides of the conflict try to manipulate it to their advantage..
The three pictures on the right aim to show you the different landscapes you