Sri Lanka known officially as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, or by many as the “pearl of the Indian Ocean” is a beautiful diverse island country located, “off India’s southeastern coast” (Pulsipher, 2011, p. 483). Approximately 21,000,000 people call Sri Lanka their home and many travel to Sri Lanka to enjoy its diverse culture and beauty. This report explores the Sri Lanka’s physical, cultural, and political geography, Christianity’s history in Sri Lanka, and also presents suggestions for Christianity’s continued growth.
Sri Lanka’s physical geography has some similarities throughout the country, but there is also a great deal of diversity. Sri Lanka consists of, “Three zones are distinguishable by elevation: the Central Highlands, the plains, and the costal belt” (Ross & Savada, 1988, p. 61). While these zone’s physical characteristics differ as a result of altitude, in general, most of Sri Lanka is relatively flat, according to Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2013), “About four fifths of the island is flat or gently rolling” (para. 2). In fact, the majority of Sri Lanka is made up of plains which are between approximately 98 to 656 feet above sea level (Ross &. Savada, 1988). Although most of Sri Lanka consists of plains, in areas such as the Central Highlands these plains are dotted with several mountains; the most well-known being Adam’s Peak at 7, 356 feet. While Adam’s Peak is most well known as a result of numerous religious traditions, the largest mountain is actually the Pidurutalagala which is considered the highest point in Sri Lanka at 8,278 feet. Sri Lanka also has several rivers which are seen mainly in the Central Highlands, the longest being the, “Mahaweli Ganga at 208 miles” (Cavendish, 1990, ...
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...illing to live out their faith through service.
Works Cited
Background Note: Sri Lanka (2008). Background Notes on Countries of the World: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Boyle, Emma (2009). Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture Sri Lanka. New York, New York: Random House.
Cavendish, Marshall (1990). Cultures of the World: Sri Lanka. Times Media Private Limited.
Johnstone, Patrick & Mandryk, Jason (1993). Operation World: When We Pray God Works ( 21st Century ed.). Waynesboro, Georgia: Paternoster Publishing.
Pinto, Leonard (2013). A Brief of Christianity in Sri Lanka. Colombo Telegraph.
Pulsipher, Alex & Pulsipher Lydia Mihelic (2011). World Regional Geography: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York, New York: W.H Freeman & Company
Ross, R. & Savada, A. (Eds). (1990). Sri Lanka: A Country Study. United States Government.
Harm de Blij and his “The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization’s Rough Landscape” truly describes how geography is displayed in the world today. In particular on of the major themes that he discusses is the idea of globalization. He actually calls these people the “globals.” In the very beginning of his book he describes two different types of peoples: Locals and Globals. The difference between these people is that Locals are the poorer people, not as mobile, and more susceptible to the concept of place. On the other hand the Globals are the fortunate population, and are a small group of people who have experienced globalization firsthand (5). This idea of globalization is a main theme that Blij refers to throughout the book, however he also indirectly references the five themes of cultural geography: culture regions, cultural diffusion, cultural interaction, cultural ecology, and cultural landscapes. Through Blij’s analysis these five themes are revealed in detail and help explain his overall idea of globalization in the world today.
Michael Ondaantje’s Anil’s Ghost is a story of Anil Tissera, a forensic anthropologist, who returns to her home country, Sri Lanka, after living fifteen years abroad. As a worker of the United Nations Human Rights Centre, Anil intends to investigate the skeletons buried deep; political murders, abductions and cases of silent missing . The novel is placed in the backdrop of an ailed and contravened Sri Lanka, repeating the assertion throughout that ‘The reason for war was war,’ (43) This clarifies why Ondaantje does not to delve into the question of why the country is locked in gruesome political dispute that involves daily disappearances, fear, mass killings and cover up murders. In the elusive background of war, Ondaatje plays with the aspect of healing; healing of the ever green Sri Lanka, its people and their lives. In this paper I will look at healing, which is harmoniously in synch with aspect nature and is a recurrent theme featured throughout the novel.
Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies
Hallisey, Charles. "Auspicious Things." Religions of Asia in Practice. Ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2002. 237-251.
Its population is 21,866,445. The majority of their population are Buddhist the rest are either Muslim, Hindu, or Christian. Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka in the 5th century B.C. The legend that is told states that Buddha ordered a group of his followers to travel to Sri Lanka and spread Buddhism. According to this legend Buddha said that Buddhism would strive in Sri Lanka for 5,000 years. (Flinkins,3) This legend holds true for the most part, the sinhalese Buddhists have taken down any threat that has been made to their religion. With the knowledge that Buddhism is a religion of nonviolence and peacefulness one may assume that Sri Lanka could be one of the most peaceful nations in the world. Unfortunately this assumption is very wrong. The way the Buddhist tackle the threats to their religion causes this country to be
iv Marston, S.A., P.L. Knox, and D.M. Liverman. 2002. World Regions in Global Context: Peoples, Places, and Environments. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, N.J. First edition.
Sri Lanka is a island that is made up of many different ethnicities, the Sinhalese who make up 75% population, the Tamils who make up 11% and 14% others. The differences amoung these groups on the basis of religion, language, and ethnicity has resulted in a 26* year long Civil War that began in July 1983 and ended in May 2009. The war was fought between the Sinhalese dominated state and militant Sri Lanka Tamil separatist movements. This paper will demonstrate how The Sri Lankan civlil war was truly a war against terrorism rather than an attempt at ethnic cleansing. It will do so by understand the history of the civil war, what the LTTE has done and the the Sri Lankan government has done.
Chapter 16 in the book Tradition & Encounter: A Global Perspective on the Past written by Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler is mainly about Islam and Hindu kingdoms, and the meetings of their traditions, production and trade in the Indian Ocean Basin, and the influence of Indian society in Southeast Asia.
...f stay in Sri Lanka, the job employed to etc. if such expatriate meet all the requested requirements then The Controller of Immigration & Emigration will issue an entry visa valid just for 30day with instruction to apply for a valid RV visa for the period of 0ne year. This will allow them to work and live in sri lanka.
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.
It was one evening, while I was reading the novel Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatjee that my ideas for a doctoral project took shape. Before reading the novel, I had heard from my Professor who taught me Post colonial studies (a course for which the novel had been prescribed) that Ondaatjee’s only novel about Sri Lanka has often been subjected to heavy criticism because of the fact that it fails to portray the island’s civil war in a credible manner.
The cultural changes and continuities that were driven by South Asia’s political shifts from 600 b.c.e – 600 c.e. occurred because of the increase in religious ideas held by Aryans, Buddha, and The Gupta.
IB Geography has thoroughly depicted the fact that geography is an integrative subject that ties in social, environmental and economic factors. This course has further enhanced my understanding of patterns and changes occurring ...
for The 21st Century. Prepared by the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria with the assistance of the International Development Research Centre. August 2000.
Officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, this is an island which situated in the North-east of Maldives and South-east of India. This island could be more than 3000 years old, however, there is documented history of 3000 years. This documented history