Buddhist majority Sri Lanka is a small teardrop-shaped island off the tip of India. It is 270 miles long and 140 miles and at its widest point. The westernmost point of the island, Talaimannar, juts out into the Gulf of Mannar only 20 miles from India.
The western and southern coastal plains, where the country’s fabled spices come from, are lush and tropical. Fruits, flowers, and grains grow in abundance. The north and east are hot and dry, and cultivation is only possible with the help of an ancient irrigation system. Sri Lanka has been known by a bewildering variety of names throughout its history. Its earliest name, Tambapanni, first appears in one of King Asoka’s inscriptions and is the origin of the name the Greeks knew the island by, Taprobane.
According to ancient legend when the first immigrants arrived in the island they threw themselves on the shore and the rust-colored earth stained their hands. The Sinhalese have long called their home Lankadipa (Lanka Island) or just Lanka. In the Sanskrit literature of India it was usually known as Ratnadipa (The Island of Gems), Simhaladipa (The Island of Lions), or simply as Simhala, from which the British name Ceylon was derived. In 1973 the country changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka ("Sacred Land"). More>>
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