ආයුබෝවන් - Welcome to the Sri Lanka Portal - வணக்கம்
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with the Maldives to the southwest and India to the northwest, and lies across the Bay of Bengal from Bangladesh and Myanmar to the northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the east. Its executive and judicial capital is Colombo, which is also its largest city and the political, financial and cultural centre of the country; neighboring Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital. Sri Lanka's population is 22 million. About 74% of the population are Sinhalese, who speak the Sinhala language, and about 15% are Tamils who speak the Tamil language. Other long-established ethnic groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda. The island has a documented history of over 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlement dating back 125,000 years. Sri Lanka has been given various names throughout its long history, with Ceylon most notably being used prior to its independence in 1948. The earliest known Buddhist writings in the island, known collectively as the Pali Canon, date back to 29 BCE. Sri Lanka, owing to its strategic geographical location, played a role as a major trading hub, and was well known to explorers across the world as early as the Anuradhapura period. The Portuguese Empire established a colony in the sixteenth century, during a period of political upheaval in the Kingdom of Kotte where it also faced attacks from neighbouring kingdoms of Kandy and Sitawaka. Following the Sinhalese–Portuguese War, the Dutch colonial empire controlled the coastal areas. By the early 19th century, the British Empire established a colony on the island, which lasted until 1948. The early 20th century saw the rise of nationalist movements and increasing calls for independence. In 1948, Sri Lanka gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon, eventually becoming a republic in 1972. Sri Lanka's recent history has been marred by a prolonged civil war between the Tamil separatist militant organisation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and ended with the defeat of the separatists. In the 21st century, Sri Lanka has emerged as a developing country, with a strategically important geographical location in the Indian Ocean, with its deep harbours giving it significant geopolitical leverage as a major trading post from the ancient Maritime Silk Road. It has the highest level of human development in South Asia and the second-highest GDP per capita in the region. Sri Lanka has a long history of international engagement and cooperation, and is a member of several international organisations—including SAARC, the G77, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth of Nations. (Full article...) Selected article -Sri Lanka exhibits a remarkable biological diversity and is considered to be the richest country in Asia in terms of species concentration. In 2019 a total area of 16.5% of Sri Lanka was forested. In 2010, it was 28.8% (and 32.2% in 1995.) (Full article...) General imagesThe following are images from various Sri Lanka-related articles on Wikipedia.
Related portalsIndian Subcontinent Other countries Selected biography - Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 – 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter, actor and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. Born in Sri Lanka, Mahendran developed a passion for photography and literature at a young age, after witnessing the shoot of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) during a school trip in Sri Lanka, he was drawn towards filmmaking. After graduation he joined as an Aerial photographer in the Sri Lankan Government. In 1966, he moved to India and gained admission to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to pursue a course in motion picture photography. Upon completion of his diploma, he started working in Malayalam cinema as a cinematographer in the early 1970s. After working in over 20 films as a cinematographer, Mahendra made his directorial debut in 1977 with the Kannada film Kokila. In the following 36 years, he directed over 20 films. Along with Bharathiraja and Mahendran, he is regarded as a trendsetter in Tamil cinema. Widely regarded as an auteur, Mahendra usually scripted and edited his films in addition to shooting them. He was the recipient of six National Film Awards (including two for Best Cinematography), five Filmfare Awards South and several state government awards. During the tail end of his career, he established a film school in Chennai, which offers courses in cinematography, direction and acting. Following a brief phase of poor health, Mahendra died of cardiac arrest in February 2014. (Full article...) Did you know (auto-generated)
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