ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the basic features of the country, its historical heritage, and the social structure of its society. The social and economic environment in which a political system operates can have a great impact on how well the government performs and on how politically stable it is. The political systems of the third world are marked by violent upheaval, revolution, and military intervention. In Sri Lanka several features of the socioeconomic environment have influenced the conduct of government and politics. Most modern-day Sri Lankans are descended from one of two cultural-linguistic groups and are defined by the language they speak: Sinhalese or Tamil. Several smaller ethnic communities also inhabit Sri Lanka, including the Burghers and the Malays. Since no census of Sri Lankan castes has been taken since the nineteenth century, the size of the caste groups can only be estimated.
