two official languages. The constitution defines English as the link language. English is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Members of the Burgher community speak variant forms of Portuguese Creole and Dutch with varying proficiency, while members of the Malay community speak a form of Creole Malay that is unique to the island. Religion Buddhism is the largest and is considered as an "Official religion" of Sri Lanka under Chapter II, Article 9, "The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana". Buddhism is practised by 70.2% of the Sri Lankan population with most being predominantly from Theravada school of thought. Most Buddhists are of the Sinhalese ethnic group with minority Tamils. Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 2nd century BCE by venerable Mahinda Maurya. A sapling of the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment was brought to Sri Lanka during the same time. The Pāli Canon (Thripitakaya), having previously been preserved as an oral tradition, was first committed to writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BCE. Sri Lanka has the longest continuous history of Buddhism of any predominantly Buddhist nation. During periods of decline, the Sri Lankan monastic lineage was revived through contact with Thailand and Burma. Although Hindus in Sri Lanka a religious minority, Hinduism has been present in Sri Lanka at least since the 2nd century BCE. Hinduism was the dominant religion in Sri Lanka before the arrival of Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism was introduced into Sri Lanka by Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka, during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa; the Sinhalese embraced Buddhism and Tamils remain Hindus in Sri Lanka. However, it was activity from across the Palk Strait that truly set the scene for Hinduism's survival in Sri Lanka. Shaivism (devotional worship of Lord Shiva) was the dominant branch practised by the Tamil peoples, thus most of the traditional Hindu temple architecture and philosophy of Sri Lanka drew heavily from this particular strand of Hinduism. Thirugnanasambanthar mentioned the names of several Sri Lankan Hindu temples in his works. Islam is the third most prevalent religion in the country, having first been brought to the island by Arab traders over the course of many centuries, starting around the mid or late 7th century CE. Most