Sri Lanka

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Ceylon until 1972) became independent from British colonial rule on February 4, 1948. The Indian Ocean island nation in south Asia, with a population of about 22 million in 2014, made a promising start under the United National Party (UNP) of Don Stephen Senanayake. However, the main problem that Sri Lanka faced was ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists, which became an obstacle to the country’s development and growth. Sri Lanka was the first south Asian country to liberalize its economy in 1977, but ethnic conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resulted in inequality and poverty in a war-ravaged economy. However, the economy of Sri Lanka has proven resilient. It could achieve ...