Belgium Srilanka

Belgium Srilanka

ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF BELGIUM

A small country in Europe, it has borders with Netherlands, France and Germany. It has a population of a little over one crore. The ethnic composition of this small country is very complex. Of the country's total population, 59 percent lives in the Flemish region and speaks Dutch language. Another 40 percent people live in the Wallonia region and speak French. Remaining 1 percent of the Belgians speak German. In the capital city Brussels, 80 percent people speak French while 25 percent are Dutch speaking.

Problems: The minority French-speaking community was relatively rich and powerful. This was resented my Dutch-speaking community who got the benefit of economic development and education much later. This led to tensions between the Dutch – speaking and French-speaking communities during the 1950s and 1960s. Brussels presented a special problem: The Dutch-speaking people constituted a majority in the century, but a minority in the capital.

ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF SRI LANKA:

Sri lanka is an island nation. It has about 2 crore people, Sri lanka has a diverse population. The major social groups are the Sinhala – speakers (74 percent) and the Tamil- speakers (18 percent). Among Tamils there are two subgroups. Tamil natives of the country are called Sri Lankan Tamils (13 percent). The rest are called Indian Tamils. Most of the Sinhala speaking people are Buddhist, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims. There are about 7 percent Christians, who both Tamil and Sinhala.