In this presentation I have given the each and every detail about the ethenic composition between Belgium and Sri Lanka. I Hope it will help you. Thank You, Pratham Kumar

1. Ethenic Composition
Of Belgium & Sri
Lanka

2.  Sub Topics of the Ethenic Composition
• Region
• Religion
• Language
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3. Belgium is a European country with a
population of a little over one crore. In this
country, the ethnic composition is complex. Of
the total population, 59 percent lives in the
Flemish region and speaks the Dutch
language. Another 40 percent people live in
the Wallonia region and speak French.
Remaining one percent of the Belgians speak
German.
In the capital city, Brussels, 80 percent people
speak French while 20 percent are Dutch
speaking. The French-speaking minority
community was relatively rich and powerful.
This made the Dutch-speaking community
angry. From the 1950s to 1960s, there were
tensions between the two communities because
of those differences. 3
 The Story Of Belgium

4. Sri Lanka is located south of India. This
island nation has a diverse population of two
crore people. In Sri Lanka, the major social
groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 percent)
and the Tamil-speakers (18 percent). Tamils
in Sri Lanka were divided into two groups:
Sri Lankan Tamils (13 percent) – Tamil
natives of the country
Indian Tamils (5 percent) – came from India
during the colonial period as plantation
workers.
Sinhala-speaking people are mainly Buddhists
while the Tamil speaking people were either
Hindus or Muslims. There was even 7 percent
Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.
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The Story of Sri Lanka

5. 1 . Region
(Belgium / Sri Lanka)
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6. In addition, Belgium is divided into three Regions: the
Flemish and Walloon Regions and the Brussels-Capital
Region. The Flemish Region is made up of the territory of
the five Flemish provinces. The Walloon Region
encompasses the territory of the five Walloon provinces.
There are also nine German-speaking municipalities in the
Walloon Region. They do not constitute a German-speaking
region.
The Brussels-Capital Region encompasses the territory of
the nineteen municipalities of Brussels. Each region has its
own legislative body, and its own government. The regional
governments and legislative bodies decide upon matters
such as housing, economy, transportation, public works, the
environment, spatial planning, energy, land use etc..
(A) Region Of Belgium
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7. (B) Region Of Sri Lanka
The island nation of Sri Lanka with provincial boundaries, the national
capital Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, provincial capitals, and major cities. The
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until 1972) is
located in the Indian Ocean between the Laccadive Sea in the west and the
Bay of Bengal in the east, separated by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of
Mannar from Tamil Nadu, an Indian state on the southern coast of the Indian
subcontinent. Colombo was the national capital until 1978 when the
administrative offices moved to Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, a suburb of
Colombo. Colombo is now the executive and legislative capital and also the
commercial center of the country. Some Tamils responded to these
discriminatory policies with the idea of Tamil Eelam, a separate state for
Tamils. While the idea appears to be extreme, the two groups already lived
in somewhat separate spheres of the country: the Sinhalese in Southern,
Western, and Central Sri Lanka, and the Tamils in the Northern and Eastern
parts of the island. Tamil Eelam aimed to formalize this existing geographic
separation. The movement was built on the idea that Tamils and Sinhalese
represented distinct ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. 7

8. 2 .Religion
(Belgium / Sri Lanka)
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9.  Religions In Belgium (A)
Religion in Belgium is diversified, with Christianity, in
particular the Catholic Church, representing the largest
community, though it has experienced a significant
decline since the 1960s (when it was the nominal
religion of over 80% of the population). However,
according to the Eurobarometer poll carried out by the
European Commission in December 2018, the share of
Christians increased by 10% points from 52.5% in 2009
to 62.8% in 9 years, with Roman Catholicism being the
largest denomination at 57.1%. Protestants comprised
2.3% and Orthodox Christians comprised 0.6%. Non
religious people comprised 29.3% of the population
and were divided between those who primarily
identified as atheists (9.1%) or as agnostics (20.2%). 9

10. 2. (A)
A further 6.8% of the population was
Muslim and 1.1% were believers in
other religions.[3] On the other hand,
the following Eurobarometer's survey
done in May and published in
September 2019 showed Christians
decreased from 62.8% in 2018 to
around 60% in 2019, with Catholics at
54%, Orthodox Christian 1%,
Protestant 3%, other Christian 2%,
Muslim-Shia 2%, Muslim-Sunni 2%,
other Muslim 1%, Atheists 10%, non
believers or Agnostics 21%, and other
Religions 4%.[4] 10

11.  Religions in Sri Lanka (B)
The Sinhalese make up 74.9% of the population and are
predominantly Buddhist, or belong to the minority Christian
community. Tamils comprise approximately 15.3% of the
population and are mainly Hindus, with some belonging to
Christian churches. The Muslim community, form the third
largest ethnic group at 9.2% of the population. Buddhism is
the largest religion of Sri Lanka with 70.2% of the
population practicing the religion; then, there are Hindus
with 12.6%; Muslims with 9.7% and Christians with 7.4%.
The census indicates that most Muslims are Sunni while
the Christians are mainly Roman Catholic. There are small
numbers of Baha’is, Shia (Bohra community), Sufis,
Ahmadis, Jehovah Witnesses, Methodists, Pentecost and
Evangelicals. There are also the Veddas, an indigenous
community,. who practice traditional belief. 11

12. 3 .Languages
(Belgium / Sri Lanka)
12

13.  Languages Of Belgium
Belgium straddles the border between Germanic and Romance-speaking Europe,
and this position is reflected in the country’s political, cultural and linguistic
makeup. With three major languages spoken under the same roof, what can go
wrong? Apparently, a lot. Unlike other countries in Europe that have successfully
forged a united national identity out of multiple linguistic communities (looking
at you, Switzerland), Belgium’s linguistic diversity has become a political hot
potato in recent years, with divisions over language often pitting different
linguistic communities against each other.
1) Flemish (Dutch)
First off, there’s the Dutch-speaking Flemish community mostly found in the northern
region of Flanders. They comprise about 60% (6.5 million) of the population. The
language this community speaks, while largely identical to the Dutch spoken in the
Netherlands, is called “Belgian-Dutch” by academics and “Flemish” by everyone
else. Of course, there are differences between Flemish and Standard Dutch —
particularly in pronunciation, vocabulary and idioms. Still, someone who speaks
Dutch shouldn’t have too many problems in Flanders. 13

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2) French
Second on the list of most-spoken languages in Belgium is French. The French-speaking community lives
in the southern Wallonia region and in the capital, Brussels. They make up approximately 40% (4.5
million) of the population. Again, despite clear differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, if you learned
standard French in France, then you should be able to understand the French-speaking Belgians — you
just have to adjust your ears a bit.
3) German
Last but not least is the tiny German-speaking minority found in the eastern regions of the province of
Liege (on the border with Germany). This forms roughly 1% (75,000) of the population of Belgium.
Because these regions were only incorporated into Belgium after World War I, the German spoken here is
still very similar to the standard German spoken over the border. Unlike the other languages spoken in
Belgium, Belgian German has had much less time to evolve independently!
4) Languages in Brussels (Capital of Belgium)
Brussels is officially bilingual, with all street signs, transportation information and even commercial
advertising presented in both French and Flemish. But the reality of this supposedly bilingual utopia is
very different than what meets the eye. Despite Brussels’s Flemish past (the city was predominantly
Flemish-speaking until the late 19th century), you will rarely hear Flemish on the streets of the capital
today, and attempting to converse with shopkeepers or bus drivers in Flemish will not get you far.

15.  Languages Of Sri Lanka
Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka. Sinhala is widely spoken in
the southern, western and central parts of the island, while Tamil is almost exclusively
spoken in northern and eastern parts of the island.
Sinhala is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who constitute approximately 70
percent of Sri Lanka’s population, which equals approximately 13 million people.
Sinhala is also spoken among other ethnic groups on the island as a second language,
making it the most widely spoken language in Sri Lanka. It was greatly influenced by
Pali, the liturgical language of Sri Lankan Buddhists. Due to the centuries of colonial
rule in Sri Lanka, Sinhala contains many Portuguese, Dutch and English loanwords.
Sinhala also has a number of words borrowed from Tamil.
Tamil is Sri Lanka’s second official language, spoken by about five million people on
the island, which is about 15 percent of the population. Tamil belongs to the Dravidian
language family, which is predominant in southern India, particularly in state of Tamil
Nadu. Tamil has existed as a spoken language in Sri Lanka for centuries brought by
ancient settlers, tradesmen, invaders, foreign kings and immigrants.
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Other than Sinhala and Tamil, many minority languages exist spoken by small communities of people. The
best known of these minority languages is Veddah, spoken by the Veddah people, who are a group of
tribal hunter gatherers that live in the forests of central Sri Lanka. Veddah is closely related to Sinhala and
both languages have a number of words borrowed from each other. Also, the Rodiya community that lives
in the Hill Country speaks a language of their own, sometimes considered a dialect of Sinhala. The Sri
Lankan Moors speak a form of Tamil heavily influenced by Arabic. The Malay Muslims in Sri Lanka speak
Creole Malay, a mix of Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil, Sinhala and Arabic.
Majority of Sri Lankans are conversational in English, so you are unlikely to face communication issues. Sri
Lankans learn English as a second language at school starting from primary grades. Sri Lankan English is
essentially British English infused with quirky local phrases and words. Sri Lankan English might not be
entirely comprehensible to native English speakers due to the accent and words borrowed from local
languages.

17. “The future of peace and prosperity that
we seek for all the world's peoples needs
a foundation of tolerance, security,
equality and justice.
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