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• Sri Lanka, "The Pearl of the Indian Ocean", is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the Southeast coast of India. Officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the country was known as Ceylon until 1972. The climate is temperate-tropical, with an average temperature of 27 degrees Celsius|celsius.

  Artillery fire which struck a field hospital on May 1 and May 2, 2009, killing at least 64 people and injuring over 85, was blamed on the Sri Lanka government by a pro-rebel website. The government declined its involvement, blaming the incident on the mishandling of explosives by rebel separatists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.The New York Times: Sri Lanka Accused of Shelling Hospital

• Fast Facts

  1. Capital: Sri Jayawardenapure-Kotte
  2. Largest city: Colombo
  3. Population: 20,926,315
  4. Area: 25,332 sq miles
  5. Government: Democratic, multi-party system
  6. Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
  7. Major Languages: Sinhala, Tamil, English
  8. Colonized by: Portuguese, Dutch and British
  9. Major Religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
  10. Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 76 years (women)
  11. GNI per capita: US $1,160 (World Bank, 2006)
  12. International dialling code: +94

• Background

  Buddhism and a Buddhist culture has thrived in Sri Lanka since ancient times. In the 14th Century, a south Indian family established a kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. The island fell under Portuguese influence in the 16th century. In the 17th century the Dutch established themselves on the island until 1796, when the British empire took over and renamed it Ceylon. The country gained independence in 1948 and changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972. In 1983, tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into a war that continues today.

• 2009 Bombing

  On March 9, 2009, a suicide explosion killed 10 and injured 20 near a mosque in southern Sri Lanka.BBC: Several killed in Sri Lanka blast (March 10, 2009)

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Buddhism | Hinduism | World Bank | Tamil Tigers | Nepal | Pakistan | India | United Kingdom | United States | Japan | Portugal | Netherlands | Egypt | Thailand | Malaysia | Indonesia | Indian Ocean | Arabian Sea | Bay of Bengal | Velupillai Prabhakaran

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