Sri Lanka is a small island state in the shape of a mango lying in the ocean in close proximity to the south of the Indian subcontinent. The island’s name was change to Sri Lanka from Ceylon when it became a republic on 22 May 1972. Before the occupation by Europeans, the island was know as Lanka, Lankadvipa; was also called Sinhaladvipa (which meant the island of the Sinhalese). The Greeks called it Taparobane and the Arabian travelers bane it Serendib. The Portuguese arriving in 1505 A.D. called it Ceilao, the Dutch later changed it to Ceylan, and the British called it Ceylon. But the Chinese travelers bestowed on it the most endearing of all its names when they called it woo-yew-kwp “the land without sorrow”.

The island lies between 6 degrees and 10 degrees north of the equator and is 25,232 square miles (65,610 square kilometers) in area. It is 272 miles (435 Km) in length and 140 miles (224Km) at its widest. From the beaches, the land rises gently at first and then steeply to form the central highlands. The highest point, is the Pidurutalagala mountain, (8,281 ft, 2524 m). The island enjoys a tropical climate of about 27 C; in the higher areas the temperature drops to 10 C. The steep rise of the land gives panoramic views and the country itself is endowed with great scenic beauty. The scenery caries from palm fringed coasts to verdant highlands of the interior. The hill country is dotted with more than fifty waterfalls some of which are of considerable size. They enhance the beauty of the hill country. Nearly half of the island is still covered with forest, grassland and wasteland. The main seasons are monsoonal winds bringing rainfall. The south-west monsoon blows from May to July and the north-east monsoon blows from November to March. The abundant rainfall sustains a wide variety of plants. The vegetation, both natural and cultivated resembles a luch green carpet over a large part of the island.

The inhabitants are mainly Sinhalese who make up 70% of the population. They inhabit most parts of the country, but sparsely in the north and the north-east. The next large ethnic group (about 17%) are the Tamils, generally classified as Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. The former came from early times and settled in the island. Today they occupy most of the north and the north-eastern parts; but quite a number have settled in the south-western and the central regions as well. The Indian Tamils who are the descendants of immigrant labour brought by the British from South India to work on the plantations. The Moors, descendants of Arabs, are a significant group who profess the Muslim faith and live mainly in the eastern part of the island with a fair sprinkling of the in most urban areas and the central region. The Malays are found in the south-eastern fringe and in most cities. The Barghers, who are descendants of the Portuguese and the Dutch, are few in number today and are found mainly around Colombo, the capital, and in other large towns. The indigenous Veddahs are now reduced to a handful in the thick jungle in the central area. The ethnic plurality of Sri Lanka is represented in its flag which , on a red background, as a yellow lion depicting the legendary origin of the Sinhalese from a lion (as in the flag of the former Kandyan Kingdom); green and yellow strips have been added to represent the Muslim and Tamil communities respectively. The population today has risen to 17 million.

Source : Shireen Senadhira
Geneva 1995
History of Scientific Literature of Sri Lanka
by Adrian Senadhira