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SRI LANKA

Succeeding him in 1960, his daughter Srimavo Bandaranaike, became the worlds first woman prime minister. In 1972 the name Ceylon was changed to Sri Lanka and in 1978 the country got a new constitution incorporating proportional representation with an Executive President at the head, personified by Junius Jayawardene the first premier under the new system. Under him the economy changed direction.

Efforts were made at wooing foreign investment and boosting exports and agricultural production, though inflation also rose substantially. It was during this time that the doors were thrown open to large scale tourism.

In the background of Sri Lanka's post independence era has been the simmering discontent between the Tamils and the Sinhalese which escalated into a major armed conflict in 1983 and has continued ever since. After the assasination of Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Srimavo Bandaranajke's daughter became Sri Lanka's first woman president. Today, Sri Lanka looks ahead with hope for peace and the chance to devote its energies to furthering development and strengthening its place in the global world.

Lifelong partnership with one man is of a higher emotional value to women than to men.