ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to demonstrate that Tamil settlements have persisted in the North-East Province, without any interruptions, for centuries and that the government's land settlement policy has been motivated by geopolitical factors. Ethnic tension in the initial stage was attributed to the "Sinhala Only" legislation which made the Sinhalese language the only official language of administration throughout the country. An overall analysis of the spatial distribution of the ethnic communities in Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts suggests that the Sinhalese population was confined to the western interior and it accounted for only one-third the total population of the two districts in 1920s. By June 1990, there was clear indication, given the determination of the government and the liberation tigers of Tamil eelam to find a military solution to the ethnic conflict, that both sides had made ample preparations for the war.
