 An island nation located off the southern coast of India in the Indian Ocean  Before 1972 was known as Ceylon  Currently know as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka  Main religions are Buddhism and Hinduism with Islam and Christianity in the minority  Two main ethnicities are Sinhalese and Tamil  Main exports are tea, coffee, coconuts, rubber, and cinnamon

Individual LevelState LevelSystemic Level Proximate Mahinda Rajapakse Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam guerilla tactics Offense of Sri Lankan Armed Forces 2004 Tsunami Remote Rajiv Ghandi President Junius Jayewardene Civil society division and party power struggles Sinhala Only Act and Consitution Colonial heritage Western movements

 In 1517 the Portuguese set up the first fort city  In 1638 the Dutch gained some control and by 1660 had full control  In 1802 the British absorbed Sri Lanka from the Dutch  Gained Independence peacefully in 1948 from British

 1802 Baptist Mission  1880’s Young Men and Women’s Christian Associations and Salvation Army  Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu backlash organizations such as Muslim Education Society, Maha Bodi Society, and the Young Men’s Buddhist Association  1900’s Boy Scout and Girl Guide Association, the Rotary of Colombo, and the Red Cross Society

 Under British Rule the official language was English  Formally know as the Official Language Act  Passed in 1956 and made Sinhala the only official language of Sri Lanka  Sinhala was spoken by 70% of the population  Under Britain the Sinhalese thought Tamils were privileged and this is an assertion of the majority rights  Also seen as a distancing of colonial past  In constitutions of 1972 and 1978 also granted “the foremost place” to Buddhism

 The 7 th Prime Minister of India  Early 1985 Gandhi declared opposition to Tamil Eelam  Gandhi refused to withdraw the Indian Peace Keeping Force until he resigned they remained in Sri Lanka  The operation killed over 1,100 Indian Soldiers and 5,000 Tamils  In August 1985 Gandhi attempted to help Tamils negotiate with the Sri Lankan government on Tamil Eelam  Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 by a Tamil suicide bomber

 First President of Sri Lanka  Only after the 1977 Riots did he lift the policy of standardization for university admission for Tamils  He passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979 which gave police the power of arrest  Jayewardene and Rajiv Gandhi constructed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord to weaken and demobilize the Tamil and give them a region of control

 In December 2004 the tsunami initially created peace and unity between ethnic groups  Political, Military, and NGO’s took over relief efforts and influx of foreign aid  2006 Sri Lankan Armed Forces launched an offensive attack on the Tamil Tigers

 Founded in May 1976 its goal is to form a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka  India originally helped the LTTE with material support until Rahjiv Gandhi  Training occurs in the Middle East, India (Tamil Nadu), and Sri Lanka  In 2001, the LTTE dropped its demand for a separate state and instead it stated that they would settle for a form of regional autonomy  In March 2002, both sides signed an official Ceasefire Agreement (CFA)

 The 6 th and current President  In 2006 the government demanded to abrogate the ceasefire agreement, stating that the only possible solution to the ethnic conflict was military solution, and that the only way to achieve this is by eliminating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil  On January 2, 2009 Rajapaksa, announced that the Sri Lankan troops had captured Kilinochchi, the city which the LTTE had used for over a decade as its administrative capital

 The entire Jaffna peninsula was captured by the Sri Lanka Army by January 14, 2009  President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared military victory over the Tamil Tigers on May 16, 2009 after 26 years of war

 Bernstein, Nina. “As Civil War Ends in Sri Lanka, New Divisions Arise in New York.” The New York Times 19 May 2009: A.20. ProQuest. Web. 3 Mar  Bullion, Alan. Civil Wars. Vol. 7. N.p.: n.p., Ebsco Host. Web. 3 Mar  Greenberg, Richard. “Sri Lanka Lurches Toward Civil War.” The Nation 30 Nov. 1985: Ebsco Host. Web. 3 Mar  Orjuela, Camilla. Civil Wars. Vol. 7. N.p.: n.p., Ebsco Host. Web. 3 Mar pp  Sengupta, Somini, and Shimali Senanayake. “Resumption of Civil War Tests Civilians’ Endurance.” The New York Times 18 Sept. 2006: A.12. ProQuest. Web. 3 Mar  “Sri Lanka.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar  “The War Dividend.” The Economist 17 May 2008: 56. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Mar