Both the United States and Sri Lanka have four classifications of race comprising their charts; however, they have no exact matches between the two.  It is hard to make such a comparison, though, because the United States does not have specific ethnic groups listed – because of its history as a cultural melting pot, it is impossible to specifically pinpoint ethnic groups as other countries can do.  Instead, the general categories “White”, “Black”, “Asian”, and “Amerindian” are used.  The “Asian” category is where all Sri Lankan would be classified.  Sri Lanka, though, can more specifically classify its ethnic make-up in the categories of “Sinhalese”, “Tamil”, “Moor”, and “Burgher, Malay, and Vedda.”  Both countries have a very similar proportional breakdown amongst their four groups, with one group being in the vast majority and the other three splitting about 20% of the population.  A pertinent side note here is that the two largest ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, have been at war for many years as the Tamil guerrilla rebels seek to carve out an independent homeland in the northern part of the country.