Country in South Asia. Official name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
a country in southern Asia, which is an island in the Indian Ocean, southeast of India. Population: 19,409,000 (2001). Capital: Colombo. Sri Lanka was formerly called Ceylon, and it was ruled by Britain from 1798 to 1948. About 70% of the population are Sinhalese, who are mostly Buddhists. The other main group are the Tamils, who are mostly Hindus, and many of them want to become independent from Sri Lanka. Lankan. officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka formerly Ceylon Island country in the Indian Ocean, off the southeastern coast of India
{i} Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island in the Indian Ocean south of India (formerly known as Ceylon)
a republic on the island of Ceylon; became independent of the United Kingdom in 1948