Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon prior to 1972. A tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent, it was probably connected to India in ancient times through a land bridge of shoals or causeway. Much of its history is intertwined with that of India, although the dominant religion is Buddhism, introduced from India over 2,000 years ago.
The country's population has more than tripled since when the British left in 1948 to over 20 million people today. With agriculture, fishing is one of the two most important elements of the economy for most Sri Lankans. The country has long been at the forefront of sustainable fishing practices, but is seeking to rebuild a fishing industry that was severely damaged during the tsunami of 2004. |
