Sri Lankan

Sri Lankan culture is a rich blend of the interaction of diverse cultural patterns both indigenous and derived from, trade, religions, as well as, western colonization. The cultural patterns of Sri Lanka today show the lasting impact of a diverse range of cultures. The overall culture is largely the result of the impact of the introduction of Buddhism, more than 2,300 years ago. It was very much later, from the early 16th century, that Sri Lanka came under the strong influence of the Christians, who came in search of its much valued spices, peacocks, gems and elephants and stayed over to rule over a part of and finally the entire country.

The advent of Buddhism saw the emergence of an entire civilization that reached a very high degree of development, especially in construction and architecture and the science of hydraulics. The rulers gave their patronage to the construction of great Buddhist “dagabas” or relic chambers for the spiritual up liftment of the peopleIn all, Sri Lankan culture today is a pleasant kaleidoscope that combines the influences of the many cultures and peoples that have left their indelible impression on the cultural patterns of the country. It this sense the Sri Lankan cultural experience can be described as truly unique among the cultural traditions of South Asia.

Jini:
Languages of Sri Lanka
Main article: Languages of Sri Lanka
While the Sinhalese people speak Sinhala as their mother tongue, the Tamil people speak Tamil. English is also widely spoken. Sinhala is spoken by about 16 million people in Sri Lanka, about 13 million of who are native speakers. It is one of the constitutionally-recognized official languages of Sri Lanka, along with Tamil, which originates from South India. Latitude: 6° 54′ 0″ N

Longitude: 79° 54′ 0″ E
Coastline:
1,340 km
Its coastline is 1,340 km long. Sri Lanka’s climate includes tropical
monsoons: the northeast monsoon (December to March), and the southwest monsoon (June to October). Its terrain is mostly low, flat to rolling plain, with mountains in the south-central interior.

Sri Lanka
Country
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia; known until 1972

Capitals: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo
Area: 65,610 km²
Population: 20.33 million (2012) World Bank
Official languages: Sinhala Language, Tamil Language
Government: Unitary state, Semi-presidential system, Constitutional republic

Akshaya:
In 1972, the national constitution discarded the name Ceylon and adopted the name of Sri Lanka. In Sinhala, the language of the majority, Sri means “blessed” and Lanka is the name of the island.

The semi-presidential system (referred to as semi-presidentialism) is a system of government in which a popularly elected fixed term president exists alongside a prime minister and Cabinet who are responsible to the legislature of a state.

Their main source of occupation is agriculture and fishing. they are the top tea producers in the world.

The official symbols of Sri Lanka are largely drawn from those representing the Sinhala Buddhist majority. Sinhala means “lion’s blood” and the lion is the central image on the national flag.