Cedar Sentinel 2013-2014 Issues April 2014: Volume 47 Issue 6 | Page 17

Off the southern tip of India there is a little island nation
by the name of Sri Lanka. In the
grand scheme of things, it isn’t
very significant, having a small
population, producing no great
emperors, generals, or revolutionaries. What is has produced
is some of the best people I have
had the privilege of knowing. I
am half Sri Lankan on my mother’s side and I hope to one day visit the land of my ancestors.

Sri Lanka is known as the
“Pearl of the Indian Ocean” because of its natural beauty, shape,
and location. Another thing Sri
Lanka is known for is its people and their good nature, being
called ‘The Nation of Smiling
People”. After being to more than
a few family reunions, I can confirm that this is the truth. Interestingly enough, despite a recent
30 year civil war ending with the
military’s victory, Sri Lanka is
the only nation in South Asia to
achieve the rating “High” on the
human development index. The
country is currently a republic
with the capital being Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, technically a
suburb of the island nation’s capital, Colombo. Colombo is often

mentioned as the official capital merely because it is so much
shorter and easier to pronounce.
Another unique thing about Sri
Lanka is that it is the oldest democracy in South Asia, attaining
this status in 1948 after separating
from the British Empire.

Historically, Sri Lanka
has produced tea, rubber, and
cinnamon, mostly because its acquisition by the British Empire
in the 1800’s. The British introduced these crops to pump all
they could out of the nation before the natives revolted and took
back their land. Their fears were
not unfounded as a number of revolts took place during the latter
half of the 19th century, all being
brutally and swiftly put down by
the East India Trading Company. Nowadays Sri Lanka still produces tea, rubber, and cinnamon,
but has augmented these exports
with precious gems, for which
the country is internationally renowned, being some of the finest
and most abundant in the world.

Despite being such a small
nation, the island is bursting with
life, having the highest biodiversity density in Asia. Across it’s flatlands and jungle it has Sri Lankan

SRILANKA
Paul Roscheman

Elephants, leopards, sloth-bears,
anteaters, and much, much more.
One of my favourite things about
being half Sri Lankan is the food.
Rice and Curry is some of the best
cuisine in the world, in my opinion having no equal. Sri Lanka i