Portal:Sri Lanka
ආයුබෝවන් - Welcome to the Sri Lanka Portal - வணக்கம்Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest, and it lies across the Bay of Bengal from Bangladesh and Myanmar in the northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the east. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest city and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The majority of the population speak Sinhala, while Tamil is the second most-spoken language. They are spoken by approximately 17 million and 5 million people respectively. Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to several cultures, languages and ethnicities. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population, followed by the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in the north of the island; both groups have played a major role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda. The island has a documented history of over 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlement dating back 125,000 years. The island has been referred to by many names throughout its long history, with Ceylon having been used prior to independence and is still used in some cases. The earliest known Buddhist writings in Sri Lanka, known collectively as the Pali Canon, date to the fourth Buddhist council, which took place in 29 BCE. Sri Lanka has been called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, and historically, the Granary of the East. Sri Lanka's geographic location and deep harbours have made it of great strategic importance, from the days of the ancient Silk Road, to today's maritime Silk Road. Due to its location and role as a major trading hub, the island was known in the East as well as in the West by as early as the Anuradhapura period. The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka during a time of great political upheaval in the Kingdom of Kotte. The Portuguese sought to gain control over the island's maritime trade and as a result part of Sri Lanka came under Portuguese control. After the Sinhalese–Portuguese War, the Dutch and the Kingdom of Kandy took control of those areas. Dutch Ceylon in turn was taken by the British, who extended their control over the whole island, leading to the creation of British Ceylon, which lasted from 1815 to 1948. The early 20th century saw the rise of nationalist movements and demands for independence. In 1948, Sri Lanka gained independence as a dominion, and in 1972, the country became a republic. Sri Lanka's more recent history has been marred by a long Civil War, which lasted for 26 years, from 1983 to 2009, and ended with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. (Full article...) Selected article -The Sinhalese people (Sinhala: සිංහල ජනතාව, romanized: Sinhala Janathāva), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number more than 15.2 million. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language. Sinhalese people are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a significant minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and other religions. Since 1815, Sinhalese people were broadly divided into two subgroups: the up-country Sinhalese of the central mountainous regions, and the low-country Sinhalese of the coastal regions. Although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs. (Full article...) General imagesThe following are images from various Sri Lanka-related articles on Wikipedia.
Related portalsIndian Subcontinent Other countries Selected biography -Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (Sinhala: ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග; Tamil: டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fourth President of Sri Lanka from 7 May 1993 to 12 November 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993, and Governor of North Western Province from 1988 to 1989. He was awarded Sri Lankabhimanya, Sri Lanka's highest civilian award in 1993 by president Ranasinghe Premadasa. (Full article...) Did you know (auto-generated)
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National Museum of Colombo is the largest museum in Sri Lanka. Archives • Read more...
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