sri lanka

• democratic socialist republic of sri lanka, island in the indian ocean south of india (formerly known as ceylon)
the democratic socialist republic of sri lanka is a country in the indian ocean, south-east of india. it was a british colony, called ceylon, from the 19th century until independence in 1948. ethnic conflict between the tamils of the north and east, who are mainly hindu, and the sinhalese of the south, who are mainly buddhist, has been a source of instability. the liberation tigers of tamil eelam (ltte), known as the tamil tigers, is the largest guerrilla army fighting for the creation of a separate tamil state (eelam). dingiri banda wijetunge, of the united national party (unp), became prime minister in 1989 and president in 1993, when ranasinghe premadasa was assassinated. ranil wickremasinghe was appointed prime minister. sri lanka is a member of the commonwealth. it is the world's second largest exporter of tea. it also exports rubber and clothing. ethnic conflict has seriously damaged the economy and has particularly affected tourism, formerly an important industry.