Sri Lanka
CeylonCeyloneseDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri LankaSri LankanSri-LankaRepublic of Sri LankaLankaCeylon (Sri Lanka)CEYSerendib
Sri Lanka (, ; ශ්රී ලංකා '; இலங்கை Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka''', is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea.wikipedia
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Colombo
Colombo, Sri LankaColombo, CeylonColombo 02
The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population.
Bay of Bengal
Gulf of BengalHarkandBay of Bangal
Sri Lanka (, ; ශ්රී ලංකා '; இலங்கை Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka''', is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea.
Its southern limit is a line between Sri Lanka and the north westernmost point of Sumatra (Indonesia).
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
KotteSri Jayawardenapura KotteSri Jayawardenapura-Kotte
The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.
Buddhism in Sri Lanka
BuddhistSri LankaSri Lankan Buddhism
It has a rich cultural heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC.
Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of the majority of Sri Lanka practiced by 70% of Sri Lanka's population.
South Asia
SouthSouth AsianSouthern Asia
Sri Lanka (, ; ශ්රී ලංකා '; இலங்கை Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka''', is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea.
The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka form South Asia.
Maldives
Maldivianthe MaldivesRepublic of Maldives
Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of only two South Asian countries rated "high" on the Human Development Index (HDI), with its HDI rating and per capita income the highest among South Asian nations.
It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 1000 km from the Asian continent.
Tamils
TamilTamil peopleTamilian
The majority of the population are from the Sinhalese ethnicity, while a large minority of Tamils have also played an influential role in the island's history.
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilians, Tamilar, Thamizhar (, or ), or simply Tamils, are a Dravidian ethnic group who speak the Tamil language as their mother tongue and trace their ancestry to Southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka.
Sinhalese people
SinhaleseSinhalaCingalese
The majority of the population are from the Sinhalese ethnicity, while a large minority of Tamils have also played an influential role in the island's history.
The Sinhalese (Sinhala: සිංහල ජාතිය Sinhala Jathiya, also known as Hela) are an ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Moors
Sri Lankan MoorMoorsMuslim
Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda are also established groups on the island.
Sri Lankan Moors (இலங்கைச் சோனகர்; ලංකා යෝනක formerly Ceylon Moors; colloquially referred to as Muslims or Moors) are an ethnic minority group in Sri Lanka, comprising 9.2% of the country's total population.
Chinese people in Sri Lanka
ChineseSri Lankan ChineseChinese immigrants
Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda are also established groups on the island.
Chinese people in Sri Lanka or Sri Lankan Chinese, are Sri Lankans of full or partial Chinese descent born or raised in Sri Lanka.
Prince Vijaya
VijayaKing VijayaVijaya Singha
According to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni ("copper-red hands" or "copper-red earth"), because his followers' hands were reddened by the red soil of the area.
Prince Vijaya was the traditional first Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka, mentioned in the Pali chronicles, including Mahavamsa.
Fourth Buddhist council
It has a rich cultural heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC.
The first one was held in Sri Lanka and is traditionally attributed to the 1st century BCE.
Gulf of Mannar
Gulf of Mannar Biosphere ReserveBay of MannarMannar
The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.
It lies between the west coast of Sri Lanka and the southeastern tip of India, in the Coromandel Coast region.
Burgher people
BurgherBurghersDutch Burgher
Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda are also established groups on the island.
Burgher people, also known simply as Burghers, are a small Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Portuguese, Dutch, British and other European men who settled in Sri Lanka and developed relationships with native Sri Lankan women.
Lanka
Laṅkāhis kingdomLanka Dipa
In Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana, the island was referred to as Lankā ("Island").
Lanka is the traditional name of the main island of Sri Lanka meaning "island"; the honorific "Sri" is added to the term in the official name of Sri Lanka.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
SAARCSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation
It 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.
Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Taprobana
TaprobaneTamiraparniTaprobanê
Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni.
Taprobana and Taprobane was the name by which the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka was known to the ancient Greeks.
Pāli Canon
Pali CanoncanonicalTipiṭaka
It has a rich cultural heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC.
The Tipitaka that was transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Asoka were initially preserved orally and were later written down during the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE, approximately 454 years after the death of Gautama Buddha.
Kingdom of Tambapanni
TambapanniTāmraparṇi
According to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni ("copper-red hands" or "copper-red earth"), because his followers' hands were reddened by the red soil of the area.
The Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī (Sinhala: තම්බපණ්ණිය රාජධානිය, translit: Tambapaṇṇī Rājadhāniya) was the first Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka.
Eelam
Eela NāduEalamEela Nadu
The Tamil term Eelam, was used to designate the whole island in Sangam literature.
Eelam (ஈழம், īḻam, also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English) is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka.
Galle
Point de GallePointe de GalleOld Town of Galle and its Fortifications
The 19th-century Irish historian James Emerson Tennent theorized that Galle, a city in southern Sri Lanka, was the ancient seaport of Tarshish from which King Solomon is said to have drawn ivory, peacocks, and other valuables.
Galle (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, 119 km from Colombo.
Sri Lankan Malays
MalayMalaysSri Lankan Malay
Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and the indigenous Vedda are also established groups on the island.
Sri Lankan Malays (also known in Sinhalese language as Ja Minissu meaning Javanese – a catch-all term historically used for all natives of the Malay Archipelago who reside in Sri Lanka.
Balangoda Man
Balangoda cultureHomo sapiens balangodensis
In these caves, archaeologists have found the remains of anatomically modern humans which they have named Balangoda Man, and other evidence suggesting that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game.
Balangoda Man (Homo sapiens balangodensis ) refers to hominins from Sri Lanka's late Quaternary period.
List of Sri Lankan monarchs
List of monarchs of Sri Lankacomplete listking
Vijaya (Singha) is the first of the approximately 189 monarchs of Sri Lanka described in chronicles such as the Dipavamsa, Mahāvaṃsa, Cūḷavaṃsa, and Rājāvaliya.
The Sinhalese monarch, anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka, were the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdom, in what is today Sri Lanka.
Dominion of Ceylon
CeylonDominionDominion status
As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved independence as Ceylon in 1948.
In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.
