Recently there are a number of incidents noted where the Sinhalese and Tamils have been part of the headline of a number of newspapers. There are also a number of events of conflicts noted between theses both races. People often get confused between Sinhalese and Tamils. Both are predominant races based in Sri Lanka even though there is a lot of difference between them. While Sinhalese are mostly seen in Sri Lanka, Tamils are based all around the world and even in India. Let us see some of the points that make them different.
Sinhalese
Sinhalese live in the Southern region of Sri Lanka and the majority of Sinhalese people follow Theravada Buddhism, even though minority people follow Christianity. They speak the language of Sinhala and at present are the majority population of Sri Lanka which accounts for nearly 75 %. However, globally they have a population of nearly 15 million and most of them live in Sri Lanka. After Sri Lanka got independence, there was a huge fight between Sinhalese and Tamils which went on till 2009. Due to the majority of this race in Sri Lanka, it has got huge significance in the world population also.
Tamils
Tamils live in the Northern region of Sri Lanka as well as in Tamil Nadu state of India and various other regions all around the world. There are a number of countries where Tamils can be seen, including Gulf countries as well as European countries. Globally, they have a huge population of nearly 100 million even though they are a minority in Sri Lanka. Tamils speak Tamil, which is a Dravidian language. Tamils mostly follow Hinduism while a minority of them belongs to the Christian population. Tamils fought for a separate state in Sri Lanka under the leadership of the LTTE. This lasted for several decades and ended in 2009 after the destruction of the LTTE.
Hence, there are lots of differences between Sinhalese and Tamils not only in terms of religion and language but also when it comes to culture and origin.