History UsefulNotes / SriLanka

Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, śrī laṃkāva; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை, ilaṅkai), officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය ''Śrī Laṅkā Prajātāntrika Samājavādī Janarajaya''; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை சனநாயக சோசலிசக் குடியரசு ''Ilaṅkai Jaṉanāyaka Sōsalisak Kuṭiyarasu''), is a little South Asian island country southeast of India. It became independent in 1948 and had the world's first elected female head of state. Until recently had an intermittent civil war that ended with the government’s victory.

Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, śrī laṃkāva; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை, ilaṅkai), officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை சனநாயக சோசலிசக் குடியரசு), is a little South Asian island country southeast of India. It became independent in 1948 and had the world's first elected female head of state. Until recently had an intermittent civil war that ended with the government’s victory.

** President: Gotabaya Rajapaksa
** Prime Minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of Creator/ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build a SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise'' (though he had to move the equator some grades up, since an orbital elevator only could be constructed on it). Sri Lanka produces many other spices and luxury products as well -- it is where cinnamon originated, and is the first place where the cinchona tree (source of quinine) was cultivated outside its native South America.

* '''Highest point:''' Pidurutalagala (2524 m/8,281 ft) (104th)

* '''Highest point:''' Pidurutalagala (2524 m/8,281 ft) (99th)

* '''Highest point:''' Pidurutalagala (2524 m/8,281 ft) (118th)

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' LK

* '''Area:''' 65,610 km (25,330 sq mi) (120th)

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Also had a massively controversial [[UsefulNotes/SriLankanCivilWar Civil War]] that has not been able to be fully documented, mostly due to [[OrwellianEditor government intrusion]]. A [[Administrivia/BrevityIsWit one-minute]] oversimplification of the war can be found [[http://youtu.be/aeE6gHLNKmU here.]]

Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, śrī laṃkāva; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை, ilaṅkai), officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ('''Sinhala:''' ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය; '''Tamil:''' இலங்கை சனநாயக சோசலிசக் குடியரசு), is a little island south of India. It became independent in 1948 and had the world's first elected female head of state. Until recently had an intermittent civil war that ended with the government’s victory.

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build a SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise'' (though he had to move the equator some grades up, since an orbital elevator only could be constructed on it). Sri Lanka produces many other spices and luxury products as well -- it is where cinnamon originated, and is the first place where the cinchona tree (source of quinine) was cultivated outside its native South America.

Also had a massively controversial [[SriLankanCivilWar Civil War]] that has not been able to be fully documented, mostly due to [[OrwellianEditor government intrusion]]. A [[Administrivia/BrevityIsWit one-minute]] oversimplification of the war can be found [[http://youtu.be/aeE6gHLNKmU here.]]

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build a SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise'' (though he had to move the equator some grades up, since an orbital elevator only could be constructed on it). Sri Lanka produces many other spices and luxury products as well -- it is when cinammon originated, and is the first place where the cinchona tree (source of quinine) was cultivated outside its native South America.

In the 17th century the island was fought over [[UsefulNotes/TheDutchPortugueseWar by the Dutch and the Portuguese]]. The former won, but were unable to subdue the native inland Kingdom of Kandy. This didn't happen until Britain took over due to the Dutch having been conquered by the French in the NapoleonicWars, and "forgot" to give it back again afterwards. The fact that it produced a lot of tea had [[BlatantLies absolutely nothing to do with this]].

In the 17th century the island was fought over [[DutchPortugueseWar by the Dutch and the Portuguese]]. The former won, but were unable to subdue the native inland Kingdom of Kandy. This didn't happen until Britain took over due to the Dutch having been conquered by the French in the NapoleonicWars, and "forgot" to give it back again afterwards. The fact that it produced a lot of tea had [[BlatantLies absolutely nothing to do with this]].

Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka is a little island south of India. It became independent in 1948 and had the world's first elected female head of state. Until recently had an intermittent civil war that ended with the government’s victory.

Also had a massively controversial [[SriLankanCivilWar Civil War]] that has not been able to be fully documented, mostly due to [[OrwellianEditor government intrusion]]. A [[BrevityIsWit one-minute]] oversimplification of the war can be found [[http://youtu.be/aeE6gHLNKmU here.]]

->Originally the flag only consists of the right half, the flag of the Kingdom of Kandy, symbolizing the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, featuring a gold-bordered crimson field with a lion holding a sword and pinnacles of Buddhist stupas on the borders. A 1950 recommendation replaces the pinnacles with four leaves from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_religiosa sacred fig tree]] (''ficus religiosa''), symbolizing the tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment, and adding green and orange vertical stripes on the hoist side to symbolize the Muslim Moor and Hindu Tamil minorities, respectively, the two largest minorities in Sri Lanka.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sri_Lanka_map_182.gif

In the 17th century the island was fought over [[DutchPortugueseWar by the Dutch and Portuguese]]. The former won, but were unable to subdue the native inland Kingdom of Kandy. This didn't happen until Britain took over due to the Dutch having been conquered by the French in the NapoleonicWars, and "forgot" to give it back again afterwards. The fact that it produced a lot of tea had [[BlatantLies absolutely nothing to do with this]].

->Originally the flag only consists of the right half, the flag of the Kingdom of Kandy, symbolizing the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, featuring a gold-bordered crimson field with a lion holding a sword and pinnacles of Buddhist stupas on the borders. A 1950 recommendation replaces the pinnacles with four leaves from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_religiosa sacred fig tree]] (''ficus religiosa''), symbolizing the tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment, and green and orange vertical stripes on the hoist side symbolizing the Muslim Moor and Hindu Tamil minorities, respectively.

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build an SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise'' (though he had to move the equator some grades up, since an orbital elevator only could be constructed near it). Sri Lanka produces many other spices and luxury products as well--it's when cinammon originated, and is the first place where the cinchona tree (source of quinine) was cultivated outside its native South America.

In the seventeenth century the island was fought over [[DutchPortugueseWar by the Dutch and Portuguese]]. The Dutch won, but were unable to subdue the native Kingdom of Kandy in the interior. This didn't happen until Britain took over the island due to the Dutch having been conquered by the French in the NapoleonicWars, and "forgot" to give it back again afterwards. The fact that it produced [[TradeMarkFavouriteFood a lot of tea]] had [[BlatantLies absolutely nothing to do with this]].

One of the most important centers of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}. Also important in Hinduism, specifically the ''Ramayana'', in which Hanuman builds a bridge from India to the island, which is identified with the (real) undersea causeway--plans to cut shipping channels in this causeway ran into religious controversy for this reason.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Sri_Lanka_svg_436.png

Also had a massively controversial Civil War that has not been able to be fully documented, mostly due to [[OrwellianEditor government intrusion]]. A [[BrevityIsWit one-minute]] oversimplification of the war can be found [[http://youtu.be/aeE6gHLNKmU here.]]

[[quoteright:125:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Sri_Lanka_svg_436.png]]

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build an SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise''. Sri Lanka produces many other spices and luxury products as well--it's when cinammon originated, and is the first place where the cinchona tree (source of quinine) was cultivated outside its native South America.

Also had a massively controversial Civil War that has not been able to be fully documented, mostly due to [[OrwellianEditor government intrustion]]. A [[BrevityIsWit one-minute]] oversimplification of the war can be found [[http://youtu.be/aeE6gHLNKmU here.]]

In the seventeenth century the island was fought over [[DutchPortugueseWar by the Dutch and Portuguese]]. The Dutch won, but were unable to subdue the native Kingdom of Kandy in the interior. This didn't happen until Britain took over the island due to the Dutch having been conquered by the French in the NapoleonicWars, and "forgot" to give it back again afterwards.

Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka is a little island south of India. It declared independence in 1948. Until recently had an intermittent civil war that ended with the government’s victory.

One of the most important centers of UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}.

It’s also known for producing [[SpotOfTea tea]] and being the refuge of ArthurCClarke in his later years. He actually stated Sri Lanka as the ideal place to build an SpaceElevator in ''The Fountains of Paradise''.