Sri Lanka
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
ශ්රී ලංකා ප්රජාතාන්ත්රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය (Sinhalese)
இலங்கை ஜனநாயக சோசலிச குடியரசு (Tamil)
"Ceylon" redirects here. For the time period of 1948–1972, see Dominion of Ceylon. For other uses, see Ceylon (disambiguation).
Sri Lanka Sinhalese: ශ්රී ලංකා
Śrī Laṃkā,
Tamil: இலங்கை
Ilaṅkai), officially the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an
island country in
South Asia near south-east
India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the
Maldives to the southwest.
Sri Lanka's documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of
pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient
Silk Road through to
World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the
beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as
Ceylon (
). Sri Lanka's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year
civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.
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| Hummanaya Blowhole - Kudawella |
A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. In addition to the majority
Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of
Sri Lankan and
Indian Tamils,
Moors,
Burghers,
Malays,
Kaffirs and the aboriginal
Vedda.
Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known
Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the
Pāli Canon, dates back to the
Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC.
Sri Lanka is a
republic and a
unitary state governed by a
semi-presidential system. The
legislative capital,
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city,
Colombo.
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| Udawalawa National Park |
Sri Lanka has had a long history of international engagement, as a founding member of the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and a member of the
United Nations, the
Commonwealth of Nations, the
G77, and the
Non-Aligned Movement.
Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South
Asia that are currently rated among high human development on the
Human Development Index.
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| Thissa Lake - Thissamaharama |
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