Sri Lanka (earlier known by Ceylon) is located in Indian Ocean in South Asia. The history of Sri Lanka is more than 2500 years old and mentioned in different ancient texts of India such as Ramayana which was referred as Lanka and it was the island fortress of the king Ravana. In the 6th century BC, Sinhalese started to come in Sri Lanka probably from northern India. This is the country which adopted Buddhism in 3rd century BC and a great civilisation developed in Anuradhapura (200 BC to c. 1000 AD) and Polonnaruwa (c. 1070 to 1200). Dambadeniya, Yapahua, Gompola, Kandy, and Jafna was other recent kingdoms in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka total area is 65,610 kilometres and within this you can see diverse landscapes. There are total 8 UNESCO world heritage sites, 1300 km of coastline, 15 national parks, tea estates in 50,000 acres, botanical gardens in 250 acres, 35 waterfalls, 25,000 water bodies.
Sri Lanka was partially occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in 17th century. Its became entirely British colony in 1815. It became an independent nation in 1948 and the name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972 from Ceylon. In May 2009, the movement to defeat Tamil Tiger’s separatist has been finished after 26 years long war.
