Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon and officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island nation in South Asia that was established in 1948. It is situated in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal and southeast of the Arabian Gulf; it is divided from the Indian sub - continent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Strait of Palk; and it is surrounded by the Indian subcontinent. Sri Lanka is bordered by the Indian Ocean and the Maldives on the marine side. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte serves as the country's legislative capital, while Colombo is the country's biggest metropolis and financial hub.

Today, Sri Lanka is a multinational state that is home to people of many different cultures, languages, and ethnic backgrounds. The Sinhalese constitute the overwhelming bulk of the country's population. The Tamils, who constitute a significant minority on the island, have also played an important part in the development of the country's history. Moors, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and indigenous Veddas are some of the other long-established communities in the area.

The island has a long history of engagement with modern international organisations: it is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), as well as a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Group of Seventy-Seven, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Sri Lanka is the top-ranking South Asian country on the Human Development Index, and it has the second highest per capita GDP in South Asia, behind only Bangladesh.