The Culture of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, an island nation off the southern tip of India, has one of the highest per capita income among South Asian countries and is known for exporting the world famous Ceylon black tea. The teardrop-shaped archipelago is divided into four major ethnic groups. The Sinhalese, mostly of the Buddhist faith, dominates the 21 million population of Sri Lanka. Next to the Sinhalese are the Tamils, who are mostly practicing the Hindu faith. Ranking third in terms of population by ethnicity are the Muslims or more aptly called Sri Lankan Moors. The Moors are mostly concentrated at major cities and as well as in the central and the eastern provinces. The fourth major group, are the Burghers. They are those with traceable European ancestry and represent even less than 1% of the population.

Comparable to the European passion for football, Sri Lankans have a standing love affair with the sport cricket. Cricket is hailed as the unofficial national sport although volleyball is the sanctioned national sport. This collective passion of Sri Lankans with cricket propelled the Sri Lankan cricket team to reach the World Cup 2007 finals. Although losing to the Australians in the 2007 finals, the cricket world now reckons team Sri Lanka as a force to contend with. Aside from cricket, Sri Lankans are also in love with ayurveda and spicy foods. Sri Lankan cuisine is synonymous to spicy, hot and chili. To imagine how spicy Sri Lankans like their food, the McDonald and KFC franchises that have opened there have adjusted their menu to Sri Lankan taste buds. In ayurveda medicine, practitioners of this discipline far outnumber medical doctors in Sri Lanka. This shows that still more people depend on ayurveda for relief and comfort.