Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon before 1972) is an island nation in South Asia, located about 31 kilometers (18 &1/2 miles) 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 center 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 population 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 Srilankan 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 colonised 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, who demand an independent Tamil state is ongoing in the northeastern.