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Sri
Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese:
,known
as Ceylon before 1972) is an island nation in
South Asia, located about 31 kilometers (18½ mi)
off the southern coast of India. Popularly
referred to as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, it
is home to more than 20 million people.
Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia and has been a centre of Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times. Today, Sri Lanka is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation, with a fifth of the population following faiths other than Buddhism - notably Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. Sinhalese people form a majority of the population (74%) with Sri Lankan Tamils, who are mostly concentrated in the north and east of the island, forming the second largest community. Other communities include the Muslim Sri Lankan Moors and Malays as well as Burghers and indigenous Veddah peoples.
Famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, rubber and coconuts, Sri Lanka boasts a progressive and modern industrial economy. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka's tropical forests, beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage make it a worldwide famous tourist destination.
After over two thousand years of rule by
independent kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were
colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands,
before the control of the entire country was
ceded to the British Empire in 1815. During
World War II Sri Lanka served as an important
base for Allied forces in the fight against the
Japanese. A nationalist political movement arose
in the country in the early 20th century, with
the aim of obtaining political independence,
which was granted by the British after peaceful
negotiations in 1948. Since then Sri Lanka has
enjoyed a surprising stable democracy and
continuous economic progress, although a civil
war between the Sinhalese-dominated government
and Tamil rebels led by the LTTE terrorist
organization, who demand an independent Tamil
state, is ongoing in northeastern parts of the
country