Ceylon

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, formerly known as Ceylon. Located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, it is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Its capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, with Colombo serving as its largest city and a major center. The island has a documented history spanning over 3,000 years, with prehistoric human settlement dating back 125,000 years. Ceylon was notably used as its name prior to its independence in 1948. The island became a colony of the Portuguese Empire in the 16th century, followed by Dutch control of coastal areas, and then the British Empire until 1948.