Sri Lanka

Government
Republic.

Geography
An island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India. Most of the land is flat and rolling; mountains in the southcentral region rise to over 8,000 ft (2,438 m).

Historical Background
The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa A.D. 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam formalized a ceasefire in February 2002, with Norway brokering peace negotiations. The conflict betwween the Sri Lankan and the Tamil Tigers reached a pivotal point in the fall, when the military launched an airstrike on Tamil headquarters in early October in Kilinochi. In addition, ground troops were closing in on the rebels. In January 2009, the Sri Lankan government captured the northern town of Kilinochchi, which for ten years had been the administrative headquarters of the Tamil Tigers.

Name

Sri Lanka

Capital

Sri Jayawardenapura

Language

Sinhala, Tamil

Area

Total 65,610 km2 (122nd) 25,332 sq mi ,Water (%) 4.4 

Population

2009 estimate 20,238,000(53rd)-July 2008 census 21,324,791 Density 308.4/km2 798.9/sq mi 

Currency

Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)