Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා Śrī Laṃkā; Tamil: இலங்கை Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean southwest of the Bay of Bengal and southeast of the Arabian Sea. It is geographically separated from the Indian
subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and centre of
commerce.
Sri Lanka's documented
history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlements
dating back at least 125,000 years. It has a rich cultural heritage, and the
first known Buddhist writings of Sri
Lanka, the Pāli Canon, date back to the Fourth Buddhist council in
29 BC. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic
importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to the modern Maritime Silk Road. Its
location as a major trading hub made it known to both the far East as well as
the European continent from as far back as the Anuradhapura period. The
country's trade in luxury goods and spices attracted traders of many nations,
creating Sri Lanka's diverse population. During a period of great political crisis
the Portuguese, whose arrival
in Sri Lanka was largely accidental, sought to control the island's maritime
regions and its lucrative external trade. The Portuguese possessions were later taken over by the Dutch. The Dutch possessions were then taken by the British, who later extended their control over the whole
island, colonising it from 1815 to
1948. Resistance to the British was immediate. A national movement for
political independence arose in the early 20th century; and in 1948, Ceylon
became a republic, and it adopted its current name in 1972. Sri Lanka's
recent history has been marred by a 26-year civil war, which ended
decisively when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces
defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam in 2009.
Lying within the Indomalayan realm, Sri Lanka is one of 25 biodiversity hotspots in
the world. Although the country is relatively small in size, it has the highest
biodiversity density in Asia. A remarkably high proportion of
the species among its flora and fauna, 27% of the 3,210 flowering plants and 22% of the mammals (see List), are endemic. Sri Lanka has declared 24 wildlife reserves, which
are home to a wide range of native species such as Asian elephants, leopards, sloth bears, the unique small loris, a
variety of deer, the purple-faced langur, the
endangered wild boar, porcupines and Indian pangolins. Flowering acacias flourish on the arid Jaffna Peninsula. Among the trees of the dry-land forests are
valuable species such as satinwood, ebony,
ironwood, mahogany and teak.
The wet zone is a tropical evergreen forest with tall trees, broad foliage, and a dense
undergrowth of vines and creepers. Subtropical evergreen forests resembling
those of temperate climates flourish in the higher altitudes.
Yala National Park in the
southeast protects herds of elephant, deer,
and peacocks. The Wilpattu National Park in
the northwest, the largest national park, preserves the habitats of many water
birds such as storks, pelicans, ibis,
and spoonbills. The island has four biosphere reserves: Bundala, Hurulu Forest Reserve, the
Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya,
and Sinharaja. Of these, Sinharaja forest reserve is home to
26 endemic birds and 20 rainforest species, including the elusive red-faced malkoha, the green-billed coucal and
the Sri Lanka blue magpie. The
untapped genetic potential of Sinharaja flora is enormous. Of the 211 woody
trees and lianas within the reserve, 139 (66%) are endemic. The total
vegetation density, including trees, shrubs, herbs and seedlings, has been
estimated at 240,000 individuals per hectare. The Minneriya National Park borders the Minneriya tank, which is an important source of water for
numerous elephants (Elephus maximus) inhabiting the surrounding forests. Dubbed
"The Gathering", the congregation of elephants can be seen on the
tank-bed in the late dry season (August to October) as the surrounding water
sources steadily disappear. The park also encompasses a range of micro-habitats
which include classic dry zone tropical monsoonal evergreen forest, thick
stands of giant bamboo, hilly pastures (patanas). and grasslands (talawas). Sri
Lanka is home to over 250 types of resident birds (see List). It has
declared several bird sanctuaries including Kumana. During the Mahaweli Program
of the 1970s and 1980s in northern Sri Lanka, the government set aside four
areas of land totalling 1,900 km2 (730 sq mi) as
national parks. Sri Lanka's forest cover, which was around 49% in 1920, had
fallen to approximately 24% by 2009.
The first stamps for British Ceylon were issued on 1 April 1857. The stamp features
a portrait of Queen Victoria and is brown in colour. Sri Lanka is the only
country to include details in a stamp in three languages viz. Sinhala, Tamil
and English. The first stamps marked Sri Lanka were issued on 22 May 1972. The Department
of Posts, functioning under the brand name Sri Lanka Post (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා තැපැල් Shri
Lanka Tæpæl), is a government operated postal system in Sri Lanka. The postal headquarters is the General Post Office
which is located in Colombo. The department itself comes under
the purview of the Ministry of
Information and Mass Media. It was formerly known as the Ceylon Post
and Telecommunications Department and is one of the oldest Government
departments in existence today.
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