Until recently, the Kandyan's attitude of aristocratic superiority toward the Low Country Sinhalese precluded marriage between them. But with the increase in wealth and sophistication of the latter, due to European and other outside contact, these barriers have broken down. The rains are followed by long droughts. The Kandyan region, except for a small southwestern portion, falls entirely within the Dry Zone. The Kandyan region is more thinly populated, more economically backward, and at a simpler level culturally and socially than the Wet Zone.
Subsistence farming is the major occupation.
Most of the people live in small villages whose size and location are determined by the availability of water. Most Sinhalese practice irrigated rice cultivation for subsistence. Millet is the principal chena crop, but cash crops such as gingelly and mustard are also grown in this fashion and supply the main source of cash to villagers. The major form of employment is as farm labor to high-caste cultivators, and payment is most often in kind. The national economy is mainly dependent on three cash crops, which comprise 95 percent of the agricultural exports.