The island nation officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is located in the northern Indian Ocean, off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Formerly called Ceylon until 1972, Sri Lanka shares maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest.
With a documented history spanning over 3000 years, Sri Lanka has held significant strategic importance due to its location and deep harbours along the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. The country is known for its diversity, with various religions, ethnicities, and languages represented, including the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils, Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs, and the aboriginal Vedda. The country boasts a rich Buddhist heritage, with the first known Buddhist writings having been composed on the island. In recent times, Sri Lanka's history has been marked by a thirty-year civil war that decisively but controversially ended with a military victory in 2009.
Sri Lanka is a unitary state and a republic, governed by a presidential system, with Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte as its capital, a suburb of the largest city, Colombo. The country is renowned for producing tea, coffee, gemstones, coconuts, rubber, and native cinnamon, earning it the moniker "the Pearl of the Indian Ocean." Sri Lanka's distinctive shape and location have led to its being referred to as "the teardrop of India," while the country's people are often called "the nation of smiling people." Sri Lanka is home to tropical forests and a variety of landscapes, with high biodiversity.
