Source : BBC News
Sri Lanka is a large island that sits just off the South Coast of India. Its pre-history goes back 125,000 years and its geographic location and deep harbours have made it a major trading hub. First the Portuguese, then the Dutch and later the British (from 1815 onwards) gained control by which time it was called Ceylon. In 1948 it became independent as a Dominion of Britain. It became a republic in 1972 and then in 1978 its name changed to the “Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”.
The population of Sri Lanka is around 22 million. Local native people, the Sinhalese, make up around three quarters of the population. Native Sri Lankan Tamils make up around 11% of the population and Tamils from India form around 4%.
1983 saw the beginning of a civil war that was to last 26 years and the death of between 60,000 – 100,000 people. Sri Lankan Armed forces eventually defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. This group had fought for an independent Tamil state in the North East of the island on account of the discrimination and persecution they experienced from the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government.
The country ranks 73rd on the Human Development Index and has had the second-highest per capita income in South Asia. This is reflected in the health statistics below. However, an ongoing economic crisis since 2019 lead to economic collapse with severe shortages of essentials and lead to the President and Government stepping down in 2022.
Some Health Statistics
- Life expectancy 76.4 in 2021 (UK = 80.7)
- Maternal Mortality Ratio = 36 per 100,000 births in 2020 (UK = 7/100,000 in 2017)
- Neonatal mortality rate 0.4% (UK = 0.3 deaths/100 live births)
- Child mortality <0.1% (UK = <0.1%)
Causes of Death
See also " We give our blood so they live comfortably": Sri Lanka's tea pickers say they go hungry and live in squalor. (Guardian 23.5.23)
