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ආයුබෝවන් - Welcome to the Sri Lanka Portal - வணக்கம்
Sri Lanka, officially theDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known asCeylon, is anisland country inSouth Asia. It is located in theIndian Ocean, southwest of theBay of Bengal, and is separated fromIndia by theGulf of Mannar and thePalk Strait. It shares amaritime border with theMaldives in the southwest andIndia in the northwest, and it lies across the Bay of Bengal fromBangladesh andMyanmar in the northeast and theAndaman and Nicobar Islands in the east.Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city,Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre.Kandy is the second-largest city and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The majority of the population speakSinhala, whileTamil is the second most-spoken language. They are spoken by approximately 17 million and 5 million people respectively. Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to several cultures, languages and ethnicities. TheSinhalese people form the majority of the population, followed by theSri Lankan Tamils, who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in the north of the island; both groups have played a major role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include theMoors,Indian Tamils,Burghers,Malays,Chinese, andVedda. The island has a documented history of over 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlement dating back 125,000 years. The island has been referred to byMany names throughout its long history, with Ceylon having been used prior to independence and is still used in some cases. The earliest knownBuddhist writings in Sri Lanka, known collectively as thePali Canon, date to thefourth Buddhist council, which took place in 29 BCE. Sri Lanka has been called thePearl of the Indian Ocean, and historically, theGranary of the East. Sri Lanka's geographic location and deep harbours have made it of great strategic importance, from the days of the ancientSilk Road, to today'smaritime Silk Road. Due to its location and role as a major trading hub, the island was known in the East as well as in the West by as early as theAnuradhapura period. ThePortuguese arrived in Sri Lanka during a time of greatpolitical upheaval in theKingdom of Kotte. The Portuguese sought to gain control over the island's maritime trade and as a result part of Sri Lanka came underPortuguese control. After theSinhalese–Portuguese War, theDutch and theKingdom of Kandy took control of those areas.Dutch Ceylon in turn was taken by theBritish, who extended their control over the whole island, leading to the creation ofBritish Ceylon, which lasted from 1815 to 1948. The early 20th century saw the rise of nationalist movements and demands for independence. In 1948, Sri Lanka gained independence as adominion, and in 1972, the country became arepublic. Sri Lanka's more recent history has been marred by a longCivil War, which lasted for 26 years, from 1983 to 2009, and ended with the defeat of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by theSri Lankan Armed Forces. (Full article...) Selected article -show anotherAnuradhapura (Sinhala:අනුරාධපුරය,romanised: Anurādhapuraya,IPA:[ənuraːd̪əpurəjə];Tamil:அனுராதபுரம்,romanised: Aṉurātapuram,IPA:[ɐnuɾaːðɐβuɾɐm]) is a major city located in the north central plain ofSri Lanka. It is the capital city ofNorth Central Province and the capital ofAnuradhapura District. The city lies 205 kilometers (127 mi) north of the current capital ofColombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historicMalwathu Oya. The city is now aWorld Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancientSinhalese civilisation. WhileMahāvaṃsa places the founding of the city in 437BCE, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement on the island for almost three millennia and one of theoldest continuously occupied cities in Asia. It is the cradle of the Hydraulic Sinhalese civilisation, Theravada Buddhism, and the longest-servingancient capital of Sri Lanka that has survived for 1500 years. Moreover, it was the first capital of theSinhala Kingdom ofRajarata, following the kingdoms ofTambapanni andUpatissa Nuwara. Anuradhapura was also the centre of Theravada Buddhism for many centuries and has been a major Buddhist pilgrimage site with ruins of many ancient Buddhist temples, including the famousAnuradhapura Maha Viharaya and theJaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the oldest still-living, documented, planted tree in the world believed to have originated from the originalBodhi tree atBodh Gaya (Bihar, India) under which theBuddha attained enlightenment. These vast networks of ancient temples and monasteries now cover over 100 square kilometers (40 sq mi) of area of the city today. (Full article...) General imagesThe following are images from various Sri Lanka-related articles on Wikipedia.
Related portalsSelected biography -show another.jpg) Kumarathunga in 2015 Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (Sinhala:චන්ද්රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග;Tamil:சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க;néeBandaranaike; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initialsCBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifthpresident of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She is the longest-serving president in Sri Lankan history. She led theSri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1994 to 2006. Born in 1945 into a prominent Sri Lankan political family, she is the daughter of two former prime ministers,Solomon Bandaranaike andSirimavo Bandaranaike. Kumaratunga entered politics in the 1970s, initially focusing on social welfare and rural development. After spending several years in exile following theassassination of her husband,Vijaya Kumaratunga, she returned to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s. In 1993, she was electedChief Minister of the Western Province. The following year, after becoming the leader of theSri Lanka Freedom Party, she formed the People's Alliance and led her coalition to victory in the 1994 parliamentary elections. In thepresidential election held later that year, she was elected as the first female president of Sri Lanka, defeating UNP candidateSrima Dissanayake in the largest landslide victory in Sri Lankan history, securing almost 62% of the votes. In the1999 election, Kumaratunga survived anassassination attempt during her re-election campaign and went on to win a second term, defeating UNP candidate and Leader of the Opposition,Ranil Wickremesinghe. (Full article...) Did you know(auto-generated)
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