Sri Lanka
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| Motto: Nane | |||||
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| Offeecial leid | Sinhala, Tamil | ||||
| Caipital | Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte | ||||
| Lairgest ceety | Colombo | ||||
| Guvrenment - Preses - Premier |
Democratic Socialist Republic Mahinda Rajapaksa D. M. Jayaratne |
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| Area - Tot - % watter |
65,610 km² 4.4% |
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| Population - 2009 - 2008 census - Density |
20,746,311 21,324,791 308.4/km² |
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| Foondin - Independence frae the Unitit Kinrick |
4 Februar 1948 | ||||
| Siller | Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) | ||||
| Time zone | UTC + 5:30 | ||||
| Naitional anthem | "Sri Lanka Matha" Music? , Singing? |
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| Internet TLD | .lk | ||||
| Cawin code | 94 | ||||
The Democratic Socialist Republic o Sri Lanka (commonly kent as Sri Lanka (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPAc-en, or Template:IPA-en);[1][2] Template:Lang-si, Template:Lang-ta) is a kintra aff the soothren coast o the Indian subcontinent. An island naition in Sooth Asie, it wis till 1972 kent as Ceylon (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPAc-en, or Template:IPAc-en). Sri Lanka is surroondit bi the Indian Ocean, the Gulf o Mannar, the Palk Strait an lies in the vicinity o Indie an Maldives.
Sri Lanka is a republic an a unitary state which is governed bi a semi-presidential seestem wi its offeecial seat o government in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the caipital.
As a result o its location in the path o major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link atween Wast Asie an Sootheast Asie.[3] It haes an aa been a center o the Buddhist releegion an cultur frae auncient times an is ane o the few remainin abodes o Buddhism in Sooth Asie alang wi Ladakh, Bhutan an the Chittagong hill tracts[4] The Sinhalese community forms the majority o the population; Tamils, who are concentratit in the north an east o the island, form the lairgest ethnic minority. Ither communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays an the aboreeginal Vedda fowk.
The kintra is famous for the production an export o tea, coffee, coconuts, rubber an cinnamon, the latter which is native tae the kintra.[5] The natural beauty Sri Lanka haes led tae the title The Pearl o the Indian Ocean, it is full o lush tropical forests, white beaches an diverse landscape throughoot alang wi a rich biodiversity. The kintra lays claim tae a lang an colorful history o ower three thoosan years, haein ane o the langest documentit histories in the warld. Sri Lanka's rich cultur can be attributit tae the mony different communities in the island. Sri Lanka is a foondin member state o SAARC an a member o the Unitit Nations, Commonweel o Naitions, G77 an Non-Aligned Movement.
[edit] Name
- Main airticle: Names o Sri Lanka
In auncient times, Sri Lanka wis kent bi a variety o names: ancient Greek geographers cawed it Taprobane[6] (Template:IPAc-en) an Arabs referred tae it as Serendib (the oreegin o the wird "serendipity").[7] Ceilão wis the name given tae Sri Lanka bi the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505,[8] which wis transliteratit intae Inglis as Ceylon.[9] As a Breetish croun colony, the island wis kent as Ceylon, an achieved unthirldom unner the name Dominion o Ceylon in 1948.
In Sinhala the kintra is kent as ශ්රී ලංකා śrī laṃkā, Template:IPA-si, an the island itsel as ලංකාව laṃkāva, Template:IPA-si. In Tamil they are baith இலங்கை ilaṅkai, Template:IPA-ta. The name derives frae the Sanskrit श्री लंका śrī (venerable) an lankā (island),[10] the name o the island in the ancient Indian epics Mahabharata an the Ramayana.
In 1972, the offeecial name o the kintra wis chynged tae "Free, Sovereign an Independent Republic o Sri Lanka". In 1978 it wis chynged tae the "Democratic Socialist Republic o Sri Lanka".[11]
The name Ceylon is still in uise in the names o a number o organisations; in 2011, the Sri Lankan government annoonced a plan tae rename aw o those for which it is responsible.[12]
[edit] References
- ↑ "Sri Lanka" in several reference works. Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved on 2 Juin 2010. .
- ↑ Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary. Speech.cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved on 2 Juin 2010. .
- ↑ British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the moment a Japanese fleet prepared to invade Sri Lanka as "the most dangerous and distressing moment of the entire conflict." – Commonwealth Air Training Program Museum, The Saviour of Ceylon
- ↑ BBC.co.uk. BBC News (2002-10-02). Retrieved on 2 Juin 2010. .
- ↑ (2008) “Cinnamon”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. “(species Cinnamomum zeylanicum), bushy evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae) native tae Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the neighboring Malabar Coast of India, and Myanmar (Burma), and also cultivated in South America and the West Indies for the spice consisting of its dried inner bark. The bark is widely usied as a spice due tae its distinct odor.”
- ↑ Abeydeera, Ananda. In Search of Taprobane: the Western discovery and mapping of Ceylon. Retrieved on 4 Juin 2007. .
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Zubair, Lareef. Etymologies of Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane and Ceylon. Archived from the original on 22 Apryle 2007. . Retrieved on 4 Juin 2007. .
- ↑ de Silva, Colin. "Sri Lanka, The 'Resplendent Isle'", The New York Times, 14 February 1982. Retrieved on 4 Juin 2007..
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Sri Lanka erases colonial name, Ceylon, BBC News, 1 January 2011
