Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) -Sri Lanka has two official languages: Sinhalese, spoken by 68% of the population and Tamil spoken by 28%. English is used in government and tourist environments.
Sinhalese or Sinhala is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Sinhalese is also spoken in Sri Lanka communities in the Middle East, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, North America by total 10 million people. Sinhala has its own writing system (see Sinhala alphabet) which is an offspring of the Brahmi script. The oldest Sinhala inscriptions were written in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE; the oldest existing literary works date from the 9th century CE. The closest relative of Sinhala is the language of the Maldives, Dhivehi.
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka, with smaller communities of speakers in many other countries. It is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and also has official status in Sri Lanka and Singapore. With more than 77 million speakers, Tamil is one of the more widely spoken languages in the world. Tamil has a literary tradition of over two thousand years.[9] The earliest epigraphic records found date to around 300 BCE and the Tolkappiyam, oldest known literary work in Tamil, has been dated variously between second century BCE and fifth century CE.[10][11] Tamil was declared a classical language of India by the Government of India in 2004 and was the first Indian language to have been accorded the status
The island of Sri Lanka lies in the Indian Ocean, to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea. It is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. According to Hindu mythology, a land bridge to the Indian mainland, known as Rama's Bridge, was constructed during the time of Rama by the vanara architect Nala. Often referred to as Adam's Bridge, it now amounts to only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level. According to temple records, this natural causeway was formerly complete, but was breached by a violent storm (probably a cyclone) in 1480. Amongst these are Sri Pada(Adams Peak) and the highest point Pidurutalagala (also known as Mt Pedro), at 2,524 meters (8,281 ft). The Mahaweli ganga (Mahaweli river) and other major rivers provide fresh water.
Since ancient times Sri Lanka was ruled by monarchs, most notably of the Sinha royal dynasty that lasted over 2000 years. The island was also infrequently invaded by South Indian kingdoms and parts of the island were ruled intermittently by the Chola dynasty, the Pandya dynasty, the Chera dynasty and the Pallava dynasty. The island was also invaded by the kingdoms of Kalinga (modern Orissa) and those from the Malay Peninsula. Buddhism arrived from India in the 3rd century BCE, brought by Bhikkhu Mahinda, who is believed to have been the son of Mauryan emperor Ashoka. Mahinda's mission won over the Sinhalese monarch Devanampiyatissa of Mihintale, who embraced the faith and propagated it throughout the Sinhalese population. The Buddhist kingdoms of Sri Lanka would maintain a large number of Buddhist schools and monasteries, and support the propagation of Buddhism into Southeast Asia. The island fell under the control of Portugal in the 16th century, then under the Netherlands and then became part of the British Empire in 1796. (continua)(J.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/7/2007; righe 32, parole 461)
