Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest.

Sri Lanka has a documented history that spans over 3,000 years, but there are theories to suggest that Sri Lanka had pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka is a diverse country, home to many religions, ethnicities and languages. It is the land of the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils, Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pali Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE. The country’s recent history has been marred by a thirty year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in 2009.

Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a presidential system. The capital, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the largest city, Colombo. An important producer of tea, coffee, gemstones, coconuts, rubber, and the native cinnamon, Sri Lanka is known as “the Pearl of the Indian Ocean” because of its natural beauty, its shape and location, and “the nation of smiling people”. The island contains tropical forests and diverse landscapes with a high amount of biodiversity.

The country has had a long history of international engagement, as a founding member of SAARC, a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement. It is also the only country in South Asia that is currently rated ‘high’ on the Human Development Index.