Conventional long name	}}

|common_name = Sri Lanka |image_flag = Flag of Sri Lanka.svg |image_coat = Coat of arms of Sri Lanka.svg |symbol_type = Emblem |national_motto = |national_anthem = File:Sri Lanka Matha.ogg''Sri Lanka Matha''Mother Sri Lanka |image_map = Sri Lanka (orthographic projection).svg |capital = Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte |latd=6 |latm=54 |latNS=N |longd=79 |longm=54 |longEW=E |largest_city = Colombo |official_languages = Sinhala, Tamil |ethnic_groups = ≈73.9% Sinhalese,≈12.6% Tamil,≈7.4% Moors,≈5.2% Indian Tamil,≈0.5% Others. |ethnic_groups_year = 2001 |demonym = Sri Lankan |government_type = Democratic Socialist Republic, Semi-presidential system |leader_title1 = President |leader_name1 = Mahinda Rajapaksa |leader_title2 = Prime Minister |leader_name2 = D. M. Jayaratne |leader_title3 = Speaker of the House |leader_name3 = Chamal Rajapaksa |leader_title4 = Chief Justice |leader_name4 = Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake |sovereignty_type = Independence |sovereignty_note = from the United Kingdom |established_event3 = Dominion (Self rule) |established_date3 = February 4, 1948 |established_event4 = Republic |established_date4 = May 22, 1972 |area_rank = 122nd |area_magnitude = 1 E10 |area_km2 = 65,610 |area_sq_mi = 25,332 |percent_water = 4.4 |population_estimate = 20,238,000 |population_estimate_rank = 56th |population_estimate_year = 2010 |population_census = 20,653,000 |population_census_year = Mid 2010 |population_density_km2 = 308.4 |population_density_sq_mi = 798.9 |population_density_rank = 35th |GDP_PPP = $106.5 billion |GDP_PPP_rank = 65th |GDP_PPP_year = 2010 |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $5,220 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |GDP_nominal = $49.68 billion |GDP_nominal_rank = 73rd |GDP_nominal_year = 2010 |GDP_nominal_per_capita = $2,435 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = |Gini = 49 |Gini_rank = |Gini_year = 2007 |Gini_category = medium |HDI = 0.658 |HDI_rank = 91st |HDI_year = 2010 |HDI_category = medium |currency = Sri Lankan Rupee |currency_code = LKR |time_zone = Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone |utc_offset = +5:30 |time_zone_DST = not observed |date_format = dd/mm/yyyy (AD) |DST_note = |utc_offset_DST = |drives_on = left |cctld = .lk, .ලංකා, .இலங்கை |calling_code = 94 |footnotes = }}

Sri Lanka (officially, The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) (, , or ; , ) is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. The South Asian Island nation was known as Ceylon (, , or ) until 1972. Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.

As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times and is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia along with Ladakh, Bhutan and the Chittagong hill tracts. The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.

Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state which is governed by a semi-presidential system with its official seat of government in Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte, the capital. The country is famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, coconuts, rubber and cinnamon, the last of which is native to the country. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka has led to the title ''The Pearl of the Indian Ocean''. The island is laden with lush tropical forests, white beaches and diverse landscapes with rich biodiversity. The country lays claim to a long and colorful history of over three thousand years, having one of the longest documented histories in the world. Sri Lanka's rich culture can be attributed to the many different communities on the island.

Sri Lanka is a founding member state of SAARC and a member United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, G77 and Non-Aligned Movement. As of 2010, Sri Lanka was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Its stock exchange was Asia's best performing stock market during 2009 and 2010.

Etymology

In ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names: Known in India as Lanka or Singhala, ancient Greek geographers called it ''Taprobane'' () and Arabs referred to it as '''' (the origin of the word "serendipity"). '''' was the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505, which was transliterated into English as ''Ceylon''. As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, and achieved independence under the name Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.

In Sinhala the country is known as ශ්‍රී ලංකා '''', , and the island itself as ලංකාව ''laṃkāva'', . In Tamil they are both இலங்கை ''ilaṅkai'', . The name derives from the Sanskrit श्री लंका ''śrī'' (venerable) and ''lankā'' (island), the name of the island in the ancient Indian epics Mahabharata and the Ramayana. In 1972, the official name of the country was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka". In 1978 it was changed to the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". The name Ceylon is still in use in the names of a number of organisations; in 2011, the Sri Lankan government announced a plan to rename all of those for which it is responsible.

History

Pre-historic Sri Lanka

The Prehistory of Sri Lanka dates back to about 125,000 years Before Present (BP) and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP. It covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron ages. Anthropologists believe that some burial rites and certain decorative artefacts discovered by the excavations in Sri Lanka exhibit similarities between the first inhabitants of the island and the early inhabitants of Southern India. Among the most important Paleolithic (''Homo Erectus'') human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka are, Pahiyangala (named after the Chinese monk Faxian, who visited the cave in the 5th century), which dates back to 37,000 BP, Batadombalena, which dates back to 28,500 BP and Belilena, 12,000 BP. One of the most important archaeological findings from these caves is the Balangoda Man, who first appeared in Sri Lanka about 34,000 BP.

One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana, which describes the kingdom of ''Lanka'' had been created by the divine sculptor named Vishwakarma, for Kubera, the lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas. Later, Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful Emperor who built a mythical flying machiene named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravana's airport.

Historical records show that the earliest settlements were formed by the combination of four ''Hela'' tribes named Naga, Yaksha, Deva and Gandhabba. They all were related to the Maha Rishi Pulasthi’s family, described in Ramayana. These earliest-known inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably the ancestors of the Vedda people people, an indigenous community living in present-day Sri Lanka, that numbers approximately 3,000. Irish historian James Emerson Tennent theorised Galle, a southern city in Sri Lanka, was the ancient seaport of Tarshish from which King Solomon is said to have drawn ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Early inhabitats of Sri Lanka spoke the Elu language, which was the early form of modern Sinhala language.

Ancient Sri Lanka

Ancient period of Sri Lanka begins in 543 BC, according to the Mahavamsa, a chronicle written in the Pali language, which provides vivid descriptions of the Sri Lankan history. It begins with the landing of Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who arrived in Sri Lanka with 700 followers. After consolidating the power, he established the Kingdom of Tambapanni. Starting from Vijaya, chronicles like Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Chulavamsa and Rajaveliya describes the reigns of approximately 189 native monarchs of Sri Lanka. (''see List of Sri Lankan monarchs'') Sri Lankan dynasty spanned over a period of 2359 years, from 543 BC to 1815 AD, until it came under British Ceylon.

The Kingdom of Sri Lanka moved to Anuradhapura in 380 BC, during the reign of King Pandukabhaya. From that day, Anuradhapura served as the Capital of the country for nearly 1400 years. The same king built the first Irrigation scheme in ancient Sri Lanka, the ''Abhaya tank''. They excelled in various constructions since then. Sri Lankan society was revolutionized during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa as Buddhism arrived from India. Around 3rd century BCE, Bhikkhu Mahinda, who is believed to have been the son of the great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, arrived in Mihintale, Sri Lanka, with Buddhism. Mahinda's mission won over the monarch, who embraced the faith and propagated it throughout the Sinhalese population. The Buddhist kingdoms of Sri Lanka would maintain a large number of Buddhist schools and monasteries, and support the propagation of Buddhism into other countries in Southeast Asia. In 288 BC, Bhikkhuni Sangamitta brought the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, which is considered to be a sapling from the historical Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha became enlightened. It is existing upto now, and considered as the oldest tree in the world, with a historical record.

Sri Lanka underwent the first foreign invasion during the reign of King Suratissa, who was defeated by Sena and Guttika from South India. First major invasion came in 205 BC by a Chola King named Elara. Dutugemunu (161-137 BC) – eldest son of King Kavan Tissa, the regional sub-king of Ruhuna defeated Elara in the Battle of Vijithapura and came into power. King Dutugemunu created the second stupa in Sri Lanka, Ruwanwelisaya. (first one was Thuparamaya).

During its existence, Kingdom of Sri Lanka was invaded at least 17 times by neighbouring South Asian dynastys such as Chola dynasty, Pandya dynasty, Chera dynasty and Pallava dynasty. There had been incursions by the kingdoms of Kalinga (modern Orissa) and from Malay Peninsula as well. Major invasion by 5 Dravidian kings named Pulahatta, Bahiya, Panaya Mara, Pilaya Mara and Dathiya was overcome by Valagambahu in 88 BC and from another 6 Dravidian kings in the 5th century AD, by Dhatusena. King Dhatusena built the massive reservoir Kala Wewa and Avukana Buddha statue.

Sri Lanka was the first Asian country to have a female ruler. Queen Anula reigned from 47–42 BC. From the ancient period, Sri Lankan monarchs have attained some remarkable construction achievements like Sigiriya, the so-called "Fortress in the Sky". It was created by King Kashyapa. Sigiriya is a rock fortress surrounded by an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. The fifth century construction is also renowned for marvellous paintings (frescos) that it contains. It's also declared by the UNESCO as the 8th Wonder of the world. Among other constructions are large reservoirs, important for conserving water in a climate that alternates rainy seasons with dry times, and elaborate aqueducts, some with a slope as finely calibrated as one inch to the mile. Biso Kotuwa, a peculiar construction inside a dam, is a technologically superior creation based on precise mathematics, allowing water to flow outside the dam keeping the pressure to a minimum. Ancient Sri Lanka was also the first in the world to have established a dedicated hospital in Mihintale in the 4th century BCE. It was also the world's leading exporter of cinnamon, which was exported to Egypt as early as 1400 BCE. Sri Lanka also maintained close ties with European civilizations including Roman Empire. For example, King Bhatika Abhaya (BC 22 - 7 AD) had sent an embassy to Rome and got down coral for a net to be cast over the Ruwanwelisaya. There were close trade relations between Sri Lanka and China too. There are records of Sri Lankan ships in China in the 8th century. Chinese coins belonging to every emperor from 976 AD to 1265 AD have been found in Sri Lanka.

Medieval Sri Lanka

Medieval period of Sri Lanka begins with the fall of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura. In 993 AD, the invasion of Chola Emperor Rajaraja I forced the then Sri Lankan ruler Mahinda V to flee to the southern part of the country. Taking advantage of this situation, Rajendra I son of Rajaraja I, launched a large invasion in 1017 AD. Mahinda V was captured and taken to India, and the Cholas sacked the city of Anuradhapura. This also marked the end of the two great houses of dynasties of ancient Sri Lanka, Moriya and the Lambakanna. Following a seventeen year long campaign, Vijayabahu I successfully drove the Chola out of Sri Lanka in 1070, reuniting the country for the first time in over a century. Upon his request, ordained monks were sent from Burma to Sri Lanka to re-establish Buddhism which had almost disappeared from the country during the Chola reign. During its medieval period, Sri Lanka was divided to three sub-territories, namely Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya.

Sri Lanka's irrigation system was extensively expanded during the reign of king Parākramabāhu the Great (1153–1186 AD). This period is considered as a time when Sri Lanka was at the height of its power. He built 1470 reservoirs - highest number by a single ruler in the Lankan history, repaired 165 dams, 3910 canals, 163 major reservoirs, and 2376 mini reservoirs. His famous construction is the Parakrama Samudra, the largest irrigation project of medieval Sri Lanka. Parākramabāhu's reign is memorable for two major campaigns—in the south of India as part of a Pandyan war of succession, and a punitive strike against the kings of Ramanna (Myanmar) for various perceived insults to Sri Lanka.

After his demise, Sri Lanka gradually decayed in power. In the early 13th century, Sri Lanka came under the invasion of Parakrama Pandyan II, a Pandyan king. But the real threat came from Kalinga Magha, a South Indian with uncertain origins, who invaded and captured the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa with an army of 24,000 from Kalinga, in 1215 AD. Unlike the previous invaders, he looted, ransacked and destroyed everything in the ancient Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms beyond recovery. His priorities in ruling were to extract as much as possible from the land and overturn as many of the traditions of Rajarata as possible. His reign saw the massive migration of native Sinhalese people to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into the mountainous interior, in a bid to escape his power. Sri Lanka never really recovered from the impact of Kalinga Magha's invasion. King Vijayabâhu III, who led the resistance, brought the kingdom to Dambadeniya. The north, in the meanwhile, eventually evolved into the Jaffna kingdom. Jaffna kingdom never came under the rule of the kingdom of south except one occasion, in 1450, due to a conquest led by king Parâkramabâhu VI's adopted son, Prince Sapumal. He ruled the North from 1450 to 1467 AD. The next three centuries stating from 1215 were marked by kaleidoscopically shifting collection of kingdoms in south and central Sri Lanka, including Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Gampola, Raigama, Kotte, Sitawaka and finally, Kandy. However, this period is known for some groundbreaking Sinhala Literature feats like ''Sandesha Kaavya''.

Early modern Sri Lanka

Early modern period of Sri Lanka begins with the arrival of Portuguese soldier and explorer Francisco de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida in 1505. Sri Lanka had always been an important port and trading post in the ancient world, and was increasingly frequented by merchant ships from the Middle East, Persia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592 King Vimaladharmasuriya I moved the kingdom to the inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against attack from western invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century. In 1619, due to the attacks of Portugese, independent existence of Jaffna kingdom, came to an end.

During the reign of the King Rajasinghe II, Dutch explorers arrived in the island. In 1638, the king signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company to get rid of Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal area of the island by then. According to the treaty, Dutch should capture and handover the coastal areas to the Kandyan king and the king should grant the Dutch a monopoly over trade on the entire island. The Dutch–Portuguese War resulted in the victory of Dutch. In 1656, Colombo fell into the hands of Dutch, resulting in the entire coastal area governed by Portugese in the Dutch control. However, the treaty signed, was disrespected by both parties. Dutch remained in the areas they captured. An ethnic group named Burgher people integrated into the Sri Lankan society as a result of Dutch rule.

The Kingdom of Kandy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. In 1595, King Vimaladharmasurya brought the sacred Tooth Relic - the traditional symbol of royal and religious authority amongst the Sinhalese - to Kandy, and built the Temple of the Tooth. Even with intermittent warfare with Europeans, the kingdom was able to survive. A succession crisis emerged in Kandy, upon the King Vira Narendrasinha's death in 1739. He was married to a Telugu-speaking Nayakkar princess from South India and was childless by them. Eventually, with the support of bhikku Weliwita Sarankara, the crown passed to the brother of one of Narendrasinha's princess, overlooking the right of "Unambuwe Bandara", Narendrasinha's own son by a Sinhalese concubine.. The new king was crowned as Sri Vijaya Rajasinha later that year. Kings of Nayakkar dynasty, launched several attacks on Dutch controlled areas, which proved to be unsuccessful.

During the Napoleonic Wars Great Britain, fearing that French control of the Netherlands might deliver Sri Lanka to the French, occupied the coastal areas of the island (which they called Ceylon) with little difficulty in 1796. Two years later, in 1798, King Rajadhi Rajasinha, 3rd of the four Nayakkar kings of Sri Lanka died of a fever. Following the death, a nephew of Rajadhi Rajasinha, 18-year-old ''Konnasami'' came into power. The new king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha faced a British invasion in 1803, but was able to retaliate successfully. By then, the entire coastal area was under the British East India Company, following the Treaty of Amiens. But on 14 February 1815, Kandy was occupied by British, in the second Kandyan War, finally ending Sri Lankan independence. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last native monarch of Sri Lanka was exiled to India. Kandyan convention, formally ceded the entire country to the British Empire. Attempts of Sri Lankan noblemen to undermine the British power in 1818 during the Uva Rebellion were thwarted by Governor Robert Brownrigg. Another rebellion in 1848 was defeated by Governor Lord Torrington.

European colonists established a series of cinnamon, sugar, coffee, indigo cultivation followed by tea and rubber plantations and graphite mining. The British also brought a large number of indentured workers from Tamil Nadu to work in the plantation economy. The city of Colombo was developed as the administrative centre and commercial heart with its harbor, and the British established modern schools, colleges, roads and churches that brought Western-style education and culture to the native people. Increasing grievances over civil rights, reports of mistreatment and abuse of natives by colonial authorities gave rise to a struggle for independence in the 1930s, when the youth leagues opposed the "Ministers' Memorandum," which asked the colonial authority to increase the powers of the board of ministers without granting popular representation or civil freedoms. During World War II, the Ceylon served as an important Allied military base. A large segment of the British and American fleet were deployed on the island, as were tens of thousands of soldiers committed to the war against Japan in Southeast Asia. Many Ceylonese fought as part of British Commonwealth Forces, and some Ceylonese expatriates in the Far east joined to form a ''Lanka Regiment'' in the Indian National Army.

Modern Sri Lanka

Following the World War II, popular pressure for independence intensified. The office of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in advance of independence on 14 October 1947, D. S. Senanayake being the first prime minister. On 4 February 1948 the country gained its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. The island enjoyed good relations with the United Kingdom and had the British Royal Navy stationed at Trincomalee until 1956. With S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike elected as prime minister, Ceylon began moving towards links with the communist bloc. He introduced the controversial Sinhala Only Act, which was partially reveresd in 1958. Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959.

On 21 July 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike took office as prime minister, and became the world's first female prime minister and the first female head of government in post-colonial Asia, however she faced an attempted military coup in 1962. During her second term as prime minister, her government instituted socialist economic polices and strengthened ties with the Soviet Union and later China, while promoting a policy of non-alignment. However in 1971, Ceylon experienced a Marxist insurrection, which was quickly suppressed with international support. In 1972, with the adoption of a new constitution, the country became a republic, repudating the previous Dominion status and changing its name to Sri Lanka. It remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

There were continuous political rancor between majoity Sinhalese and the minority Tamil communities during the post-independece era. Vital steps to resolve the issue, like Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact and Senanayake-Chelvanayakam Pact failed to materialize. Tensions between Tamil groups and the government mounted in the early 1970s with raise of the Tamil nationalism. Taking the introduction of Policy of standardization to the University entrance, as the catalyst, Tamil militancy grew steadily in the country's north during this period. Assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiyappah in 1975 marked an important turn of these events. Meanwhile, the government of J. R. Jayawardene in 1978 introduced a new constitution, together with Executive presidency and Free market economy. Sri Lanka became the first South Asian country to Liberalize its economy. From the 1983, tensions between ethnic groups blew into an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers). In 1987, JVP launched its second insurrection in Southern Sri Lanka. Same year, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed and Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in Northern Sri Lanka to find a lasting solution to the ethnic problem. Efforts did not become successful and in 1990, IPKF left the country. From 1985 to 2006, Sri Lankan government and insurgents held 4 rounds of peacetalks, but none of them helped to resolve the conflict. In 2009, Sri Lanka Armed Forces led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated the LTTE, and brought the entire country under the control of Sri Lankan government. Following the LTTE's defeat, Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party in Sri Lanka dropped its demand for a separate state, in favour of a federal solution. Sri Lanka, emerging after a 26 year war, has become one of the fastest growing economies of the world.

Civil War

The Sinhala Only Act was driving forces behind Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. The Sinhala Only Act was, curiously enough, not in agreement with the constitution of 1947, which forbade language discrimination. The designations of Sinhala, the language of the majority community, as the sole official language was the first major step in a process, which eventually destroyed the post-independence "ethnic status-quo". The Sinhala Only Act blocked the Tamil quest for continued socioeconomic progress and led to Tamil mobilisation against the State. When peaceful protests were suppressed, extremist actions were legitimized.

Equally important, the act led to ethnic out bidding and it legitimated Sinhalese jingoism, which only radicalized an otherwise culturally and politically conservative Tamil Community. Although other factors—such as the government's internal colonisation policies—played a significant role in Sri Lanka's ethnic relations, the language issue was the most important item on the agenda for both Sinhalese and Tamils. Indeed, the Federal Party's crucial contribution to Tamil politics was its emphasis on the role of language as the determinant of nationhood. This determination to attain Tamil nationhood was exemplified by a Tamil parliamentarian who prophetically claimed that "if the Sinhalese will not agree to federation the Tamils will have a fully autonomous Tamil linguistic state by whatever means they can get it, by all the methods of history: rebellion, guerrilla war fare or anything you please.

From 1983 to 2009, there was an on-and-off civil war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist militant organisation who fought to create an independent state named Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island. On 19 May 2009, however, the President of Sri Lanka officially claimed an end to the insurgency and the defeat of the LTTE, following the death of Velupillai Prabhakaran and much of the LTTE's other senior leadership.

There were credible allegations and evidence that actions of war crime were committed by both parties, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), during the Sri Lankan Civil War, particularly during the final months of the conflict in 2009. The war crimes included attacks on civilians and civilian buildings by both sides; executions of combatants and prisoners by both sides; enforced disappearances by the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary groups backed by them; acute shortages of food, medicine, and clean water for civilians trapped in the war zone; and child recruitment by the Tamil Tigers.

With the end of the war, the government of Sri Lanka called for redevelopment of the nation. The final stages of the war left some 294,000 people displaced. On May 24, 2009, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, visited the Menik farm camp which was one of the IDP camps for Tamil civilians. He said "I have traveled around the world and visited similar places, but this is by far the most ''appalling scenes'' I have seen." Regarding the access to that camps that was denied to the NGOs and International aid agencies, Ban said "They should be given unimpeded access and ''freedom of movement'' within the camp. That is what I have asked the foreign minister and the president (for), and I was assured that the leaders of the Sri Lankan government will make sure (of this)." By August 2011, most of the displaced persons had been released or returned to their places of origin, and 7,440 remained in the camps.

Geography and climate

The island of Sri Lanka lies in the Indian Ocean, to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal. It lies between latitudes 5° and 10°N, and longitudes 79° and 82°E. Sri Lanka is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. According to Hindu mythology, a land bridge to the Indian mainland, known as Rama's Bridge, was constructed during the time of Rama by the vanara architect Nala. Often referred to as Adam's Bridge, it now amounts to only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level. According to colonial British reports, this is a natural causeway which was formerly complete, but was breached by a violent storm in 1480.

The island consists mostly of flat-to-rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south-central part. Amongst these is the highest point Pidurutalagala, reaching above sea level. The climate of Sri Lanka can be described as tropical and warm. Its position between 5 and 10 north latitude endows the country with a warm climate moderated by ocean winds and considerable moisture. The mean temperature ranges from about in the Central Highlands, where frost may occur for several days in the winter, to a maximum of approximately in other low-altitude areas. The average yearly temperature ranges from to nearly . Day and night temperatures may vary by to . During the coldest days of January, many people wear coats and sweaters in the highlands and elsewhere.

May, the hottest period, precedes the summer monsoon rains. The rainfall pattern is influenced by monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal: as the winds encounter the mountain slopes of the Central Highlands, they unload heavy rains on the slopes and the southwestern areas of the island.The "wet zone" and some of the windward slopes receive up to of rain each month, but the leeward slopes in the east and northeast receive little rain. Most of the east, southeast, and northern parts of the country comprise the "dry zone", which receives between and of rain annually. Much of the rain in these areas falls from October to January; during the rest of the year there is very little precipitation. The arid northwest and southeast coasts receive the least amount of rain at to per year. Periodic squalls occur and sometimes tropical cyclones bring overcast skies and rains to the southwest, northeast, and eastern parts of the island. Between December and March, monsoon winds come from the northeast, bringing moisture from the Bay of Bengal. Humidity is typically higher in the southwest and mountainous areas and depends on the seasonal patterns of rainfall, and places like Colombo experience daytime humidity above 79% all year round, rising to almost 90% during the monsoon season in June. Anuradhapura experiences a daytime low of 60% during the monsoon month of March, but a high of 79% during the November and December rains. In the highlands, Kandy's daytime humidity usually ranges between 75% and 83%.

Sri Lanka's coastline is 1,585 km long. It also claims to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending 200 nautical miles. This is 6.7 times the country’s land area. The coastline and adjacent waters support highly productive marine ecosystems such as fringing coral reefs, shallow beds of coastal and estuarine seagrasses. Sri Lanka inherits 45 estuaries and 40 lagoons too.

Flora and fauna

thumb|Sri Lankan Elephant is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian Elephant, and native to Sri Lanka. The country is home to some 5000 elephants.

Lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, Sri Lanka is one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Although the country is relatively small in size, it has the highest biodiversity per 10,000 square km in Asia. Remarkably high proportion of the species among its flora and fauna, 27% of the 3,210 flowering plants and 22% of the mammals (''see List''), are endemic. Sri Lanka has a wide range of topographic and climatic variation and this contributes to the special features of its biodiversity. Most of the fish are river or marsh dwelling. The trout, introduced by the British are found in the cool streams of the Horton plains.

Varieties of flowering acacias are well adapted to the arid conditions and flourish on the Jaffna Peninsula. Among the trees of the dry-land forests, are some valuable species such as satinwood, ebony, ironwood, mahogany and teak. In the wet zone, the dominant vegetation of the lowlands is a tropical evergreen forest, with tall trees, broad foliage, and a dense undergrowth of vines and creepers. Subtropical evergreen forests resembling those of temperate climates flourish in the higher altitudes. Forests at one time covered nearly the entire island, but by the late 20th century lands classified as forests and forest reserves covered around ⅓ of the land.

The Yala National Park in the southeast protects herds of elephant, deer, and peacocks, and the Wilpattu National Park, the largest national park in Sri Lanka, in the northwest preserves the habitats of many water birds, such as storks, pelicans, ibis, and spoonbills. The island has four biosphere reserves, Bundala, Hurulu Forest Reserve, the Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya, and Sinharaja. Out of these, Sinharaja forest reserve is home to 26 endemic birds and 20 rainforest species, including the elusive Red-faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal and Sri Lanka Blue Magpie. The untapped genetic potential of Sinharaja flora is enormous. Out of the 211 woody trees and lianas so far identified within the reserve, 139 (66%) are endemic. The Total vegetation density, including trees, shrubs, herbs and seedlings has been estimated to be around 240,000 individuals per hectare.

In addition, Sri Lanka is home to over 250 types of resident birds (''see List''). It contains several bird sanctuaries including Kumana. During the Mahaweli Program of the 1970s and 1980s in northern Sri Lanka, the government set aside four areas of land totalling as national parks. However the country's forest cover, which was around 49% in 1920, had been fallen to approximately 24% by 2009. The national flower of Sri Lanka is the ''Nymphaea stellata'' (Sinhalese ''Nil Mahanel''), the national tree is the ''Ironwood'' (Sinhalese ''Na''), and the national bird is the Sri Lanka Junglefowl, which is endemic to the country.

Politics

Sri Lanka is the oldest democracy in South Asia. The Donoughmore Constitution, created by the Donoughmore Commission in 1931 enabled general elections with adult universal suffrage (universal adult franchise) in the country. It was the first time, a non-caucasian country within the empires of Western Europe was given one man, one vote and the power to control domestic affairs. The first election under the universal adult franchise held in June 1931, for the Ceylon State Council. Sir D. B. Jayatilaka was elected as the Leader of the House. In 1944, the Soulbury Commission was appointed to draft a new constitution. During this time, struggle for Independence was fought on "constitutionalist" lines under the leadership of D. S. Senanayake. The draft constitution was enacted in the same year and Senanayake was appointed as the Prime Minister from the parliamentary election in 1947. The Soulbury constitution ushered in Dominion status and Independence to Sri Lanka in 1948.

Current politics in Sri Lanka is led by rival coalitions led by the centre-leftist, progressivist United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), an offspring of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and the comparatively right-wing, pro-capitalist United National Party (UNP). Sri Lanka is essentially a multi-party democracy with many smaller Buddhist, socialist and Tamil nationalist political parties. As of July 2011, Sri Lanka had 67 registered political parties. Out of these, Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), established in 1935 is the oldest political party in Sri Lanka. UNP, established by D. S. Senanayake in 1946, was considered to be the largest single political party in Sri Lanka until recently. It is the only political group which had a representation in all parliaments since the independence. SLFP was founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was the Cabinet minister of Local Administration when he left the UNP in July 1951. SLFP recorded its first victory in 1956, defeating the ruling UNP in 1956 Parliamentary election.

The Tamil nationalist counterpart of Bandaranaike, G. G. Ponnambalam, founded the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) in 1944. Due to Ponnambalam's cooperation with D. S. Senanayake, a group led by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam broke away in 1949 and formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) ''aka'' Federal Party. It was the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka for next 3 decades. Tamil National Alliance, formed in October 2001 is the current successor of these Tamil political parties which had undergone much turbulences as Tamil militancy grew in early 1970s. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party founded by Rohana Wijeweera in 1965, serves the 3rd force in the current political context of country.

Government

The Constitution of Sri Lanka establishes a democratic, socialist republic in Sri Lanka, which is also a unitary state. The government is a mixture of the presidential system and the parliamentary system. The President of Sri Lanka is the head of state, the commander in chief of the armed forces, as well as head of government, and is popularly elected for a six-year term. In the exercise of duties, the President is responsible to the Parliament of Sri Lanka, which is a unicameral 225-member legislature. The President appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers composed of elected members of parliament. The President's deputy is the Prime Minister, who leads the ruling party in parliament and shares many executive responsibilities, mainly in domestic affairs.

Members of parliament are elected by universal (adult) suffrage based on a modified proportional representation system by district to a six-year term. The primary modification is that, the party that receives the largest number of valid votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat." The president may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament any time after it has served for one year. The parliament reserves the power to make all laws. On 1 July 1960 the people of Sri Lanka appointed the first-ever female head of government in Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga served for a short period as the prime minister between August and December 1994 before being elected as the first female president of the country from 1994 to 2005 for 2 consecutive terms. The current president, who took office on 21 November 2005, and has been elected for two consecutive terms, is Mahinda Rajapaksa. The current prime minister, D. M. Jayaratne, took office on 21 April 2010.

Since 1948, Sri Lanka has been a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. It is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Colombo Plan, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Through the Cold War-era, Sri Lanka followed a foreign policy of non-alignment but has remained closer to the United States and Western Europe.

The military of Sri Lanka comprises the Sri Lankan Army, the Sri Lankan Navy and the Sri Lankan Air Force. These are administered by the Ministry of Defence. During 1971 and 1989 the army assisted the police in government response against the Marxist militants of the JVP and fought the LTTE from 1983 to 2009. Sri Lanka receives considerable military assistance from Pakistan and China.

Administrative divisions

;Provinces

Provinces () have existed in Sri Lanka since the 19th century. But they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils following several decades of increasing demand for a decentralisation of the Government of Sri Lanka. Between 1988 and 2006 the Northern and Eastern provinces were temporarily merged to form the North-East Province. Prior to 1987, all administration was handled by a district-based civil service which had been in place since colonial times.

Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces and 25 districts. Each province is administered by a directly elected provincial council:

;Districts

The provinces of Sri Lanka are divided into 25 districts (). Each district is administered under a District Secretariat. The districts are further subdivided into divisional secretariats, and these in turn to Grama Niladharis. The Districts are known in Sinhala as ''Disa'' and in Tamil as ''Maawaddam''. Originally a Disa (usually rendered into English as Dissavony) was a duchy, notably Matale and Uva. The Government Agent, who is known as District Secretary, administers a district.

These were originally based on the feudal counties, the ''korale''s and ''rata''s. They were formerly known as 'D.R.O. Divisions' after the 'Divisional Revenue Officer'. Later the D.R.O.s became 'Assistant Government Agents' and the Divisions were known as 'A.G.A. Divisions'. Currently, the Divisions are administered by a 'Divisional Secretary', and are known as a 'D.S. Divisions'. Rural D.S. Divisions are also administered by a 'Pradeshiya Sabha' and 'Pradesha Sabhai' (Sinhala and Tamil for 'Regional Council'), which is elected.

Foreign relations and military

Foreign relations

Sri Lanka traditionally follows a nonaligned foreign policy but has been seeking closer relations with the United States since December 1977. It participates in multilateral diplomacy, particularly at the United Nations, where it seeks to promote sovereignty, independence, and development in the developing world. Sri Lanka was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It also is a member of the Commonwealth, the SAARC, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, and the Colombo Plan. Sri Lanka continues its active participation in the NAM, while also stressing the importance it places on regionalism by playing a strong role in SAARC.

Military

The Sri Lanka Armed Forces, comprising the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force, comes under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The total strength of the three services is around 230,000 active personnel. Sri Lanka does not use a military draft.

In support of the armed forces there are three paramilitary units functioning under purview of the Ministry of Defence, which are the Special Task Force, the Civil Security Force and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard

Since independence from Britain in 1948, the primary focus of the armed forces has been on internal security, due to three major insurgencies, including a 30 year long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries. Due to this conflict the armed forces had expanded to its current size and where in a continuous mobilized state for the last 30 years. Unique in modern military history, this was a low intensity conflict which progressed into a bloody conflict which included elements of conventional warfare as well as classic guerrilla and asymmetric warfare, with pitch battles taking place in land and at sea, later briefly moving to the air and unprecedented use of suicide attacks by a violent non-state actor. Although it drew in other regional countries into the conflict directly (India) or indirectly (Pakistan, China); the conflict itself did not result in any territorial or constitutional changes, however it resulted in the deaths of 80,000–100,000 Sri Lankan and foreigners.

In a rare occurrence in modern history the conflict that had 30 years of constant fighting, halted several times briefly by failed peace overtures, ended by a military outcome with a comprehensively defeat of the LTTE May 2009.

;Peace keeping Sri Lankan Armed Forces have engaged in UN peacekeeping operations since the early 1960s. Even though its armed forces were then engaged in an internal conflict, Sri Lanka, since 2002, contributed with forces as permanent contingents deployed in several UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Chad and Lebanon organised by the United Nations, notably the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and continue to contribute their forces to the United Nations.

Economy

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Sri Lanka became a plantation economy, famous for its production and export of cinnamon, rubber and Ceylon tea, which remains a trademark national export. The development of modern ports under British rule raised the strategic importance of the island as a centre of trade. During World War II, the island hosted important military installations and Allied forces. However, the plantation economy aggravated poverty and economic inequality.

From 1948 to 1977 socialism strongly influenced the government's economic policies. Colonial plantations were dismantled, industries were nationalised and a welfare state established. While the standard of living and literacy improved significantly, the nation's economy suffered from inefficiency, slow growth and lack of foreign investment. From 1977 the UNP government began incorporating privatisation, deregulation and the promotion of private enterprise. While the production and export of tea, rubber, coffee, sugar and other agricultural commodities remains important, the nation has moved steadily towards an industrialised economy with the development of food processing, textiles, telecommunications and finance. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of export, and further declined to 16.8% in 2005 (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments have reached 63%.

The GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% during the early 1990s, until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997–2000, with average growth of 5.3%. The year of 2001 saw the first recession in the country's history, as a result of power shortages, budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Signs of recovery appeared after the 2002 ceasefire which died away following the beginning of war. Since the separatist war ended in May 2009 the Sri Lankan stock market has shown marked gains to be among the 3 best performing markets in the world. The Colombo Stock Exchange reported the highest growth in the world for 2003, and today Sri Lanka has the highest per capita income in South Asia. About 14% of the population live on less than US$ 1.25 per day.

In April 2004, there was a sharp reversal in economic policy after the government headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party was defeated by a coalition made up of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the leftist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna called the United People's Freedom Alliance. The new government stopped the privatisation of state enterprises and reforms of state utilities such as power and petroleum, and embarked on a subsidy program called the Rata Perata economic program. Its main theme to support the rural and suburban SMEs and protect the domestic economy from external influences, such as oil prices, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Sri Lanka, with an income per head of US$1,972, still lags behind some of its neighbours including Maldives but is ahead of its giant neighbour India. Its economy grew by an average of 5% during the 1990s during the 'War for Peace' era. According to the Sri Lankan central bank statistics, the economy was estimated to have grown by 7% last year, while inflation reached 20%. Parts of Sri Lanka, particularly the South and East coast, were devastated by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. The economy was briefly buoyed by an influx of foreign aid and tourists, but this was disrupted with the reemergence of the civil war resulting in increased lawlessness in the country and a sharp decline in tourism. But following the end of the 3 decade long separatist war in May 2009 tourism has seen a steep uptick. Also the end of war has ensured the rule of law in the whole of the island.

Recently, New York Times has placed Sri Lanka Number 1 in 31 places to go in 2010. After Dow Jones classified Sri Lanka as Emerging markets at 2010, Citigroup classified Sri Lanka as 3G (countries) at February 2011.

Demographics

Sri Lanka is the 53rd most populated nation in the world, with an annual population growth rate of 0.79%. Sri Lanka has a birth rate of 15.63 births per 1,000 people and a death rate of 6.49 deaths per 1,000 people. Population density is highest in western Sri Lanka, especially in and around the capital. There is a small population on the island of the Vedda people. They are believed to be the original indigenous group to inhabit the island. The Sinhalese people form the largest ethnic group in the nation, composing approximately 74% of the total population.

Tamils are concentrated in the North, East, Central and Western provinces of the country. Sri Lankan Tamils are the second major ethnic group on the island and have called it home for generations. Indian Tamils who were brought as indentured labourers from India by British colonists to work on estate plantations, nearly 50% of whom were repatriated following independence in 1948, are called "Indian Origin" Tamils. They are distinguished from the native Tamil population that has resided in Sri Lanka since ancient times.

According to 2001 census data Indian Tamils makeup 5.1% of the Sri Lankan population and, Sri Lankan Tamils 4.3% but this figure only accounted for Sri Lankan Tamils in government-controlled areas, not accounting for those in rebel-held territories. The World Factbook states that Sri Lankan Tamils make up 14% of the population. There is a significant population (8.0%) of Moors, who trace their lineage to Arab traders and immigrants from the Middle East. Their presence is concentrated in the cities and the central and eastern provinces. There are also small ethnic groups such as the Burghers (of mixed European descent) and Austronesian peoples from Southeast Asia.

Language

Sinhalese and Tamil are the two official languages of Sri Lanka. English is fluently spoken by approximately 10% of the population, and is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Members of the Burgher community speak variant forms of Portuguese Creole and Dutch with varying proficiency, while members of the Malay community speak a form of creole Malay that is unique to the island.

Religions

Sri Lanka has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. Buddhism constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population of the island, most of whom follow the Theravada school of Buddhism.

Sri Lanka has the longest continuous history of Buddhism of any predominately Buddhist nation, with the Sangha having existed in a largely unbroken lineage since its introduction in the 2nd century BCE. During periods of decline, the Sri Lankan monastic lineage was revived through contact with Thailand and Burma. }} Religions which today exist in Sri Lanka, in addition to Buddhism and Hinduism include Islam as well as different churches of Christianity. Followers of Islam comprise nearly eight percent of the population,

Hinduism was primarily established in Sri Lanka by migrants and often invaders from southern India, Hindus constitute just over 7 percent of the population, mostly of the Shaivite school. European colonists introduced Christianity to the country in the 16th century, and the religion has been adopted by around six percent of the population.

Health

Birth in Sri Lanka Life expectancy was 69 for males and 76 for females in 2006. Government expenditure on health care was aprox. US$ 105 (PPP) in 2006. Sri Lanka has about 48.9 physicians per 100,000 people. The Médecins Sans Frontières are active in Sri Lanka.

Education

With a literacy rate of 92%, and 83% of the total population having had Secondary Education, Sri Lanka has one of the most literate populations amongst developing nations. An education system which dictates 9 years of Compulsory Schooling for every child is in place, with 99% of the children entering the first grade. by Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara, a former minister of education, has greatly contributed to this.

Dr. Kannangara led the establishment of the Madhya Maha Vidyalayas (Central Schools) in different parts of the country in order to provide education to Sri Lanka's rural population. In 1942 a special education committee proposed extensive reforms to establish an efficient and quality education system for the people. However in the 1980s changers to this system saw the separation the of administration of schools between the central government and the provincial government. Thus the elite National Schools are controlled directly by the Ministry of Education and the provincial schools by the provincial government.

Most schools in Sri Lanka provide education from grades 1 to 13 in the same institution. Students sit for the GCE Ordinary Level Examination (O/Levels) in grade 11 and the GCE Advanced Level Examination (A/levels) in grade 13, conducted by the Department of Examinations. These schools are modelled on British colleges. A majority of them are public, but a number of private schools do exist. While most reputed National and Private Schools centred around large cities are usually single-sex institutions, rural provincial schools tend to be coeducational.

In recent decades, a large number of international schools have been established across the nation. In these schools General Certificate of Secondary Education, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge International Examinations are popular education programs. Many of the schools offer subjects in Sinhala and Tamil languages with regionally leading schools offering subjects in English medium also.

Sri Lanka has around 16 public universities. They include the University of Colombo, the University of Peradeniya, the University of Kelaniya, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the University of Moratuwa, the University of Jaffna, the University of Ruhuna, the Eastern University of Sri Lanka, the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka and the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.

However the lack of space in these institutions and the unwillingness to establish private universities has led to a large number of students been denied entry into formal universities as well as high undergraduate unemployment. As a result, a number of public and private institutions have emerged, which provide specialised education in a variety of fields, such as computer science, business administration and law. These include the government owned Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology and the Institute of Technological Studies. The free education system ensures that primary to tertiary education is provided free of charge to its citizens.

Transport

Most Sri Lankan cities and towns are connected by the Sri Lanka Railways, the state-run national railway operator. The first railway line was inaugurated on 26 April 1867, linking Colombo with Kandy. The total length of Sri Lankan roads exceeds , with a vast majority of them being paved.

The government has launched several highway projects to bolster the economy and national transport system, including the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway, the Colombo-Kandy (Kadugannawa) Expressway, the Colombo-Padeniya Expressway and the Outer Circular Highway to ease Colombo's traffic congestion. There are also plans to build a major bridge connecting Jaffna to the Indian city of Chennai.

The Ceylon Transport Board is the state-run agency responsible for operating public bus services across the island. Sri Lanka also maintains of inland waterways. It has three deep-water ports at Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle. There is also a smaller, shallower harbour at Kankesanturai, north of Jaffna.

There are twelve paved airports and two unpaved airstrips in the country. SriLankan Airlines is the official national carrier, partly owned and operated by Emirates Airline. It was voted the best airline in South Asia by Skytrax. SriLankan Air Taxi is the smaller, domestic arm of the national carrier, while Expo Aviation and Lankair are private airline companies. The Bandaranaike International Airport, currently the country's only international airport, is located in Katunayaka, north of Colombo. A second international airport is under construction in Mattala, in the south of the island.

The Port of Colombo is the largest port in Sri Lanka, handling over 4.1 million TEUs annually. The new Port of Hambantota is currently under construction, and due to begin operations in November 2010.

Human rights

Human rights as ratified by the United Nations are guaranteed by the constitution of Sri Lanka. The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has come under criticism by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United States Department of State and the European Union, have expressed concern about the state of human rights in Sri Lanka. Both the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government of Sri Lanka are accused of violating human rights.

In its 2007 report, however, Amnesty International stated that "escalating political killings, child recruitment, abductions and armed clashes created a climate of fear in the east, spreading to the north by the end of the year", whilst also outlining concerns with violence against women, the death penalty and "numerous reports of torture in police custody". However, the report also stated that the ceasefire between government and LTTE remained in place despite numerous violations.

However, the Sri Lankan minister for HR said "We regret one or two statements made here, that fly in the face of all concrete evidence, that the situation in Sri Lanka is deteriorating, when we have dealt more firmly with terrorism, with far-less damage to civilians, than in any comparative situation." Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said, the report presents a distorted view of the actual situation in Sri Lanka during the year 2007 and is a litany of unsubstantiated allegations, innuendo and vituperative exaggerations.

Culture and arts

The island is the home of two main traditional cultures: the Sinhalese (centred in the ancient cities of Kandy and Anuradhapura) and the Tamil (centred in the city of Jaffna). In more recent times a British colonial culture was added, and lately Sri Lanka, particularly in the urban areas, has experienced a dramatic makeover in the western mould.

Until recently, for example, most Sri Lankans, certainly those in the villages, have eaten traditional food, engaged in traditional crafts and expressed themselves through traditional arts. But economic growth and intense economic competition in developed countries has spilled over to most of Sri Lanka, producing changes that might variously be identified as progress, westernisation or a loss of identity and assimilation.

Traditional food

Sri Lankans have added western influences to the customary diet such as rice and curry, pittu (mixture of fresh rice meal, very lightly roasted and mixed with fresh grated coconut, then steamed in a bamboo mould). Kiribath (cooked in thick coconut cream for this unsweetened rice-pudding which is accompanied by a sharp chili relish called "lunumiris"), wattalapam (rich pudding of Malay origin made of coconut milk, jaggery, cashew nuts, eggs, and various spices including cinnamon cloves and nutmeg), kottu, and hoppers ("appa"), batter cooked rapidly in a hot curved pan, accompanied by eggs, milk or savouries.

Middle Eastern influences and practices are found in traditional Moor dishes. While Dutch and Portuguese influences are found with the island's Burgher community preserving their culture through traditional favourites such as Lamprais (rice cooked in stock and baked in a banana leaf), Breudher (Dutch Christmas cake) and Bolo Fiado (Portuguese-style layer cake).

Festivals

Every year on or about 13 April Sinhala and Tamil people celebrate Sinhalese and Tamil New Year Festival, and Muslims celebrate Ramadan. Esala Perahera (A-suh-luh peh-ruh-ha-ruh) is the grand festival of Esala held in Sri Lanka. It is very grand with elegant costumes. Happening in July or August in Kandy, it has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and richly decorated elephants.

There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'. The elephant is paraded around the city bearing the tooth of Buddha. However the new year for tamils have been established as being on 14 January from this year.

Cinema

Sri Lankan cinema in past years has featured subjects such as family relationships, love stories and the years of conflict between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels. Many films are in the Sinhalese language and the Sri Lankan cinematic style is similar to bollywood, kollywood of Indian cinema.

The first film to be produced and shown in Sri Lanka was Kadawunu Poronduwa (The Broken Promise) which was released in 1947. The first colour film of Sri Lanka was Ranmuthu Duwa.

Afterwards there were many Sinhalese movies produced in Sri Lanka and some of them, such as Nidhanaya, received several international film awards. The most influential filmmaker in the history of Sri Lankan cinema is Lester James Peiris who has directed many movies of excellent quality which led to global acclaim. His latest film, ''Wekande Walauwa'' ("Mansion by the Lake") became the first movie to be submitted from Sri Lanka for the Best Foreign Language film award at the Academy Awards.

In 2005 the director Vimukthi Jayasundara became the first Sri Lankan to win the prestigious Camera d’Or award for Best First Film, or any award for that matter, at the Cannes Film Festival for his Sinhalese language film ''Sulanga Enu Pinisa'' (The Forsaken Land). Controversial filmmaker Asoka Handagama's films are considered by many in the Sri Lankan film world to be the best films of honest response to the ethnic conflict raged in the country for many years.

Prasanna Vithanage is one of Sri Lanka's most notable filmmakers. His films have won many awards, both local and international. Recent releases like 'Sooriya Arana', 'Samanala thatu', and 'Hiripoda wessa' have attracted Sri Lankans to cinemas. Sri Lankan films are usually in the Sinhalese language. Tamil language movies are also filmed in Sri Lanka but they are part of Kollywood which is Indian Tamil cinema. It is also known as Sri Lankan Tamil cinema in Sri Lanka. However some Kollywood films are based in Sri Lanka as well.

Music

The earliest music came from the theatre at a time when the traditional open-air drama (referred to in Sinhala as ''Kolam'', ''Sokari'' and ''Nadagam''). In 1903 the first music album, Nurthi, was released through Radio Ceylon. Also Vernon Corea introduced Sri Lankan music in the English Service of Radio Ceylon.

In the early 1960s, Indian music in films greatly influenced Sri Lankan music and later Sri Lankan stars like Sunil Shantha found greater popularity among Indian people. By 1963, Radio Ceylon had more Indian listeners than Sri Lankan ones. The notable songwriters Mahagama Sekara and Ananda Samarakoon made a Sri Lankan music revolution. At the peak of this revolution, musicians such as W. D. Amaradeva, H.R. Jothipala, Milton Mallawarachchi, M.S. Fernando, Annesley Malewana and Clarence Wijewardene did great work.

A very popular type of music is the so-called Baila, a kind of dance music that originated from Portuguese music introduced to the island in colonial times.

Sri Lanka has a significant underground metal and hard rock community which is growing in popularity among upper middle class teenagers and young adults. Some internationally known Sri Lankan metal bands include Stigmata, Chitral Somapala, Whirlwind, Fallen Grace, Funeral In Heaven, Paranoid Earthling.

Media

The national radio station radio, Radio Ceylon is the oldest-running radio station in Asia. It was established in 1923 by Edward Harper just three years after broadcasting was launched in Europe. It remains one of the most popular stations in Asia, with its programming reaching neighbouring Asian nations. The station is managed by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and broadcasts services in Sinhalese, Tamil, English and Hindi.

Since the 1980s, a large number of private radio stations have also being introduced, and they have gained commercial popularity and success. Broadcast television was introduced to the country in 1979 when the Independent Television Network was launched. Initially all Television stations were state controlled, but private television networks began broadcasts in 1992.

Global television networks from India, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States are also widely popular, and cable and satellite television is gaining in popularity with Sri Lanka's middle-class. Popular publications include the English language ''Daily Mirror'' and ''The Sunday Observer'' and ''The Sunday Times'', ''Divayina'', ''Lankadeepa'' and ''Lakbima'' in Sinhalese and the Tamil publications ''Dinakaran'' and ''Uthayan''.

Sri Lankan Literature

Sports

While the national sport in Sri Lanka is volleyball, by far the most popular sport in the country is cricket. Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, where they lost to Australia at the Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados. After qualifying to play in the finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka was beaten by India. The legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan also ended his incredible career at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which hosted the 2011 World Cup finals. The national cricket team of Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008.

Sri Lanka has a large number of sports stadiums, including the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, the R. Premadasa Stadium and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla as well as the Galle International Stadium. The country co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup with India and Pakistan, 2011 Cricket World Cup with India and Bangladesh and has hosted the Asia Cup tournament on numerous occasions. Aquatic sports such as boating, surfing, swimming and scuba diving on the coast, the beaches and backwaters attract a large number of Sri Lankans and foreign tourists. There are two styles of martial arts native to Sri Lanka, Cheena di and Angampora.

See also

Outline of Sri Lanka

References

Further reading

;Bibliography

External links

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playername	Sourav Ganguly
alt	Clean-shaven man wearing glasses stares directly at the camera. He is wearing a black suit and a gold tie. The man's right arm is facing the camera. The arm has a small picture of a helmet engulfed with fire.
country	India
fullname	Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
nickname	The Prince of Calcutta, The Maharaja, The God of the Off Side, Dada, The Warrior Prince
living	true
dayofbirth	8
monthofbirth	7
yearofbirth	1972
placeofbirth	Behala, Calcutta, West Bengal
countryofbirth	India
heightft	5
heightinch	11
batting	Left-handed
bowling	Right arm medium
role	Batsman
family	Snehasish Ganguly (brother), Dona Ganguly (Wife)
international	true
testdebutdate	20 June
testdebutyear	1996
testdebutagainst	England
testcap	207
lasttestdate	6 November
lasttestyear	2008
lasttestagainst	Australia
odidebutdate	11 January
odidebutyear	1992
odidebutagainst	West Indies
odicap	84
lastodidate	15 November
lastodiyear	2007
lastodiagainst	Pakistan
club1	Bengal
year1	1990–2010
club2	Lancashire
year2	2000
club3	Glamorgan
year3	2005
club4	Northamptonshire
year4	2006
club5	Kolkata Knight Riders
year5	2008–10
club6	Pune Warriors India
year6	2011
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	113
runs1	7,212
bat avg1	42.17
100s/50s1	16/35
top score1	239
deliveries1	3,117
wickets1	32
bowl avg1	52.53
fivefor1	0
tenfor1	0
best bowling1	3/28
catches/stumpings1	71/–
column2	ODI
matches2	311
runs2	11,363
bat avg2	41.02
100s/50s2	22/72
top score2	183
deliveries2	4,561
wickets2	100
bowl avg2	38.49
fivefor2	2
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	5/16
catches/stumpings2	100/–
column3	FC
matches3	242
runs3	14,933
bat avg3	43.92
100s/50s3	31/85
top score3	239
deliveries3	10,968
wickets3	164
bowl avg3	36.82
fivefor3	4
tenfor3	0
best bowling3	6/46
catches/stumpings3	166/–
column4	LA
matches4	426
runs4	15,278
bat avg4	41.51
100s/50s4	31/94
top score4	183
deliveries4	7,949
wickets4	168
bowl avg4	38.41
fivefor4	2
tenfor4	n/a
best bowling4	5/16
catches/stumpings4	129/–
date	28 February
year	2009
source	http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2023/2023.html CricketArchive }}

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; ; born 8 July 1972) is a former Indian cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. Born into an affluent family, Ganguly was introduced into the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish. He is regarded as one of India's most successful captains in modern times. He started his career by playing in state and school teams. Currently, he is the 5th highest run scorer in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and was the 5th person in history to cross the 10,000 run landmark. He is only the 2nd Indian to cross that mark in ODIs, after Sachin Tendulkar. Wisden ranked him the sixth greatest one day international batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dean Jones and Michael Bevan.

After a series of playing in different Indian domestic tournaments such as the Ranji and Duleep trophies, Ganguly got his big-break while playing for India on their tour of England. He scored 131 runs and cemented his place in the Indian team. Ganguly's place in the team was assured after successful performances in series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia, winning the Man of the Match awards. In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he was involved in a partnership of 318 runs with Rahul Dravid, which remains the highest overall partnership score in the World Cup tournament history.

Due to the match-fixing scandals in 2000 by other players of the team, and for his poor health, Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar resigned his position, and Ganguly was made the captain of the Indian cricket team. He was soon the subject of media criticism after an unsuccessful stint for county side Durham and for taking off his shirt in the final of the 2002 Natwest Trophy. He led India into the 2003 World Cup final, where they were defeated by Australia. Due to a decrease in individual performance, he was dropped from the team in the following year. Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, one of India's highest civilian awards. He returned to the National team in 2006, and made successful batting displays. Around this time, he became involved in a dispute with Indian team coach Greg Chappell over several misunderstandings. Ganguly was again dropped from the team, however he was selected to play in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Ganguly joined the Kolkata Knight Riders team as captain for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament in 2008. The same year, after a home Test series against Australia, he announced his retirement from international cricket. He continued to play for the Bengal team and was appointed the chairman of the Cricket Association of Bengal's Cricket Development Committee. The left-handed Ganguly was a prolific One Day International (ODI) batsman, with over 11,000 ODI runs to his credit. He is one of the most successful Indian Test captains to date, winning 21 out of 49 test matches. An aggressive captain, Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him, and transforming the Indian team into an aggressive fighting unit.

Biography

1972–89: Early life and introduction to cricket

Sourav Ganguly was born on 8 July 1972 in Calcutta, and is the youngest son of Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. Chandidas ran a flourishing print business and was one of the richest men in the city. Ganguly had a luxurious childhood and was nicknamed the 'Maharaja', meaning the 'Great King'. Since the favourite sport for the people of Calcutta was the game of football, Ganguly was initially attracted to the game. However, academics came in-between his love for sports and Nirupa was not very supportive of Ganguly taking up cricket or any other sport as a career. By then, his elder brother Snehasish was already an established cricketer for the Bengal cricket team. He supported Ganguly's dream to be a cricketer and asked their father to get Ganguly enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during his summer holidays. Ganguly was studying in tenth grade at that time.

Despite being right-handed, Ganguly learnt to bat left-handed so he could use his brother's sporting equipment. After he showed some promise as a batsman, he was enrolled in a cricket academy. An indoor multi-gym and concrete wicket was built at their home, so he and Snehasish could practice the game. They used to watch a number of old cricket match videos, especially the games played by David Gower, whom Ganguly admired. After he scored a century against the Orissa Under–15 side, he was made captain of St Xavier's School's cricket team, where several of his teammates complained against what they perceived to be his arrogance. While touring with a junior team, Ganguly refused his turn as the twelfth man, as he reportedly felt that the duties involved, which included organising equipment and drinks for the players, and delivering messages, were beneath his social status. Ganguly purportedly refused to do such tasks as he considered it beneath his social status to assist his teammates in such a way. However, his playmanship gave him a chance to make his first-class cricket debut for Bengal in 1989, the same year that his brother was dropped from the team.

1990–96: Career beginning and debut success

Following a prolific Ranji season in 1990–91, Ganguly scored three runs in his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against the West Indies in 1992. He was dropped immediately since he was perceived to be "arrogant" and his attitude towards the game was openly questioned. It was rumored that Ganguly refused to carry drinks for his teammates, commenting that it was not his job to do so, later denied by him. Consequently, he was removed from the team. He toiled away in domestic cricket, scoring heavily in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 Ranji seasons. Following an innings of 171 in the 1995–96 Duleep Trophy, he was recalled to the National team for a tour of England in 1996, in the middle of intense media scrutiny. He played in a single ODI, but was omitted from the team for the first Test. However, after teammate Navjot Singh Sidhu left the touring, citing ill-treatment by then captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Ganguly made his Test debut against England in the Second Test of a three-match series at Lord's Cricket Ground alongside Rahul Dravid. England had won the First Test of the three-match series; however, Ganguly scored a century, becoming only the third cricketer to achieve such a feat on debut at Lord's, after Harry Graham and John Hampshire. Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior have since accomplished this feat, but Ganguly's 131 still remains the highest by any batsman on his debut at the ground. India was not required to bat in the second innings due to the match ending in a draw. In the next Test match at Trent Bridge he made 136, thus becoming only the third batsman to make a century in each of his first two innings (after Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran). He shared a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar, which became at that time the highest partnership for India against any country for any wicket outside India. The Test again ended in a draw, handing England a 1–0 series victory; Ganguly scored 48 in the second innings.

1997–99: Marriage, Opening in ODIs and World Cup '99

Weeks after his successful tour of England, Ganguly eloped with childhood sweetheart Dona Roy. The bride and groom's family were sworn enemies at that point and this news caused an uproar between them. However, both families reconciled and a formal wedding was held in February 1997. Same year, Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century by hitting 113, opposed to Sri Lanka's team total of 238. Later that year, he won four consecutive man of the match awards, in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan; the second of these was won after he took five wickets for 16 runs off 10 overs, his best bowling in an ODI. After a barren run in Test cricket his form returned at the end of the year with three centuries in four Tests all against Sri Lanka two of these involved stands with Sachin Tendulkar of over 250.

During the final of the Independence Cup at Dhaka in January 1998, India successfully chased down 315 off 48 overs, and Ganguly won the Man of the Match award. In March 1998 he was part of the Indian team that defeated Australia; in Kolkata, he took three wickets having opened the bowling with his medium pace.

Ganguly was part of the Indian team that competed in the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England. During the match against Sri Lanka at Taunton, India chose to bat. After Sadagoppan Ramesh was bowled, Ganguly scored 183 from 158 balls, and hit 17 fours and seven sixes. It became the second highest score in World Cup history and the highest by an Indian in the tournament. His partnership of 318 with Rahul Dravid is the highest overall score in a World Cup and is the second highest in all ODI cricket. In 1999–00, India lost Test series to both Australia and South Africa that involved a combined total of five Tests. Ganguly struggled scoring 224 runs at 22.40; however his ODI form was impressive, with five centuries over the season taking him to the top of the PwC One Day Ratings for batsmen. Around the same time, allegations came that Ganguly was romantically involved with South Indian actress Nagma, something he denied.

2000–05: Ascension to captaincy and accolades

In 2000, after the match fixing scandal by some of the players of the team, Ganguly was named the Captain of the Indian cricket team. The decision was spurred due to Tendulkar stepping down from the position for his health, and Ganguly being the vice-captain at that time. He began well as a captain, leading India to a series win over South Africa in the five-match one day series and led the Indian team to the finals of the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. He scored two centuries, including one in the final; however, New Zealand still won by four wickets. The same year, Ganguly tried his hand at County cricket career in England but was not a successful. In "The Wisden Cricketer", reviewers Steve Pittard and John Stern called him as "The imperious Indian—dubbed 'Lord Snooty'". They commented:

"At the crease it was sometimes uncertain whether his partner was a batsman or a batman being dispatched to take his discarded sweater to the pavilion or carry his kit bag. But mutiny was afoot among the lower orders. In one match Ganguly, after reaching his fifty, raised his bat to the home balcony, only to find it deserted. He did not inspire at Glamorgan or Northamptonshire either. At the latter in 2006 he averaged 4.80 from his four first-class appearances."

His Lancashire teammate Andrew Flintoff thought him to be aloof and compared his attitude to that of Prince Charles. In Australia's three Test and five match ODI tour of India in early 2001, Ganguly caused controversy by arriving late for the toss on four occasions, something that agitated opposing captain Steve Waugh. In the Fourth ODI, he caused further controversy by failing to wear his playing attire to the toss, something considered unusual in cricket circles. However, India won the Test series 2–1, ending Australia's run of 16 consecutive Test match victories in the Second Test. The match saw India looking set for defeat after conceding a first innings lead of 274. Waugh chose to enforce the follow-on and V. V. S. Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for the entire fourth day's play to set Australia a target of 384 on a dusty, spinning wicket. The Australians were unable to survive and became only the third team to lose a Test after enforcing the follow-on. In November 2001, Ganguly's wife Dona gave birth to their daughter Sana Ganguly. At the Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 2001, During the final match of the 2002 Natwest Trophy held in Lords after a stunning performance by team mates Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, Ganguly took off his shirt in public and brandished it in the air to celebrate India's winning of the match. He was later strongly condemned for tarnishing the "gentleman's game" image of cricket and disrespecting Lords protocol. Ganguly said that he was only mimicking an act performed by the British all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during a tour of India. In 2003, India reached the World Cup Final for the first time since 1983, where they lost to the Australians. Ganguly had a successful tournament personally, scoring 465 runs at an average of 58.12, including three centuries.

By 2004, he had achieved significant success as captain and was deemed as India's most successful cricket captain by sections of the media. However, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy reign, especially after the World Cup, the tour of Australia in 2003 and the Pakistan series in 2004. In 2004, Australia won a Test series in India for the first time since 1969. It was speculated that Ganguly was in disagreement with the head of cricket in Nagpur over the type of pitch to be used for the Third Test. The groundsmen went against Ganguly, leaving a large amount of grass on the pitch. Some experts indicated that the reason for this was for "spite or revenge" against the Indian captain. When Australia's stand-in-captain, Adam Gilchrist, went to the toss, he noticed Rahul Dravid was waiting instead of Ganguly, leaving him to ask Dravid where Ganguly was. Dravid could not give a definitive answer, saying: "Oh, who knows?"

Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005, he was dropped from the team in October 2005. Having been nominated and rejected in 2000, when the game suffered a tarnished reputation due to match fixing scadals, the captaincy was passed to Dravid, his former deputy. Ganguly decided against retiring and attempted to make a comeback to the team. Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, one of India's highest awards. He was presented with the award on June 30, 2004, by then President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

2006–07: Comeback and rift with Greg Chappell

In September 2005, Greg Chappell became the coach for the India tour of Zimbabwe. Ganguly's dispute with him resulted in many headlines. Chappell had emailed the Board of Control for Cricket in India, stating that Ganguly was "physically and mentally" unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Ganguly had enlisted the support from the Indian media and eventually the board had to intervene and order a truce between the pair. BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra issued a statement that,

"In view of the decision that cricket is to go forward, both the coach and the captain have been asked to work out a mutual and professional working relationship. For this, performance will be the criteria, applicable to captain, coach and players. [...] Of course the captain controls the game, the coach does his own job. Mutual trust is important. Henceforth no player/captain/coach will write or have any interaction with the media. Going to the media will lead to disciplinary action."

Ganguly, Chappell and the Indian team manager for the Zimbabwe tour, Amitabh Choudhary, were asked to appear before the BCCI committee, where it was reported that assurance of working together was given by them. Consequently, due to his poor form and differences with the coach, Ganguly was dropped as the captain of the team, with Dravid taking his place. Chandresh Narayan, chief correspondent for ''The Times of India'', commented that "The row with Greg Chappell just added to the mystery, but he was going through a really bad patch then, his only score [of note] was a hundred against Zimbabwe and that didn't count for much." Ten months later, during India's tour to South Africa, Ganguly was recalled after his middle order replacements Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif suffered poor form.

Following India's poor batting display in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy and the ODI series in South Africa, in which they were whitewashed 4-0, Ganguly made his comeback to the Test team. Wasim Jaffer, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble had earlier been selected for the one-day squad, despite their recent poor performances. Many saw this as an indictment of coach Greg Chappell's youth-first policy. Coming in at 37/4, Ganguly scored 83 in a tour match against the rest of South Africa, modifying his original batting style and taking a middle-stump guard, resulting in India winning the match. During his first Test innings since his comeback, against South Africa in Johannesburg his score of 51 helped India to victory, marking the first Test match win for the team in South Africa. Though India lost the series, Ganguly accumulated the most runs on the scoring chart. After his successful Test comeback he was recalled for the ODI team, as India played host to West Indies and Sri Lanka in back to back ODI tournaments. In his first ODI innings in almost two years, he scored a matchwinning 98. He performed well in both series, averaging almost 70 and won the Man of the Series Award against Sri Lanka.

Ganguly was alloted a place in the official team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He was the leading scorer for India in their first round defeat against Bangladesh. After India were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage, there were reports of a rift between certain members of the Indian team and Chappell. Ganguly was alleged to have ignored instructions from the team management to score quickly. After Tendulkar issued a statement saying that what hurt the team most was that "the coach has questioned our attitude", Chappell decided not to renew his contract with the Indian team and left his post as coach, citing "family and personal reasons". On 12 December 2007, Ganguly scored his maiden double century of his career while playing against Pakistan. He scored 239 runs in the first innings of the third and final Test match of the series. He was involved in a 300  run partnership for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh. Ganguly remained prolific in both Test and ODI cricket in the year 2007. He scored 1106 Test runs at an average of 61.44 (with three centuries and four fifties) in 2007 to become the second highest run-scorer in Test matches of that year after Jacques Kallis. He was also the fifth highest run-scorer in 2007 in ODIs, where he scored 1240 runs at an average of 44.28.

2008–present: International retirement and the Indian Premier League

In February 2008, Ganguly joined as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team, owned by Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, as part of the Indian Premier League (IPL). On 18 April 2008, Ganguly led the KKR, in the IPL Twenty20 cricket match. They had a 140 run victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers captained by Rahul Dravid and owned by Vijay Mallya. Ganguly opened the innings with Brendan McCullum and scored 10 runs while McCullum remained unbeaten, scoring 158 runs in 73 balls. On 1 May, in a game between the Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals, Ganguly made his second T20 half century, scoring 51 runs off of 39 balls at a strike rate of 130.76. In his innings, Ganguly hit four 4s and two sixes, topping the scorers list for the Knight Riders.

On 7 July 2008, media reported that Ganguly was being projected as a candidate for the post of President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) against his former mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya. Reports also suggested that he could run for the post of BCCI President in 2014 as East Zone's representative. Ganguly himself did not deny the reports and did not rule out any such move. The same year in October, Ganguly announced that the Test series against Australia starting in October 2008 would be his last and stated "[t]o be honest, I didn't expect to be picked for this series. Before coming here, [at the conference] I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock." Ganguly played in every game of the four-Test series and amassed 324 runs at an average of 54.00. While playing the second Test match of the series in Mohali, Ganguly scored his final test century. In the Fourth and final Test, with India needing one wicket to secure a victory, the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, invited Ganguly to lead the side in the field for the final time. India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, winning the series 2–0.

In May 2009, Ganguly was removed from the captaincy of the KKR for the 2009 season of the IPL, and was replaced by McCullum. The decision was questioned by media and other players of the team, when KKR finished at the bottom of the ranking table with three wins and ten losses. After that, television channel Zee Bangla appointed him as the host of the reality quiz show titled ''Dadagiri Unlimited''. It presented participants from the 19 districts of West Bengal, who had to answer questions posed by Ganguly. By August, he was appointed the chairman of CAB's Cricket Development Committee. The job of the committee is to receive a report from the selectors at the end of every cricket season, assess the accountability of the selectors and make necessary recommendations. He played for the Ranji cup in the Bengal team in October 2009. Ganguly scored 110 in the match against Delhi and was involved in a partnership of 222 runs with Wriddhiman Saha.

In the third season of the IPL, Ganguly was once again given the captaincy of KKR, after the team ended at the bottom in the second season. The coach John Buchanan was replaced by Dav Whatmore. In 40 matches and 38 innings for KKR Ganguly scored 1,031 runs and took eight wickets. In the fourth season of the IPL he was signed by the Pune Warriors India, after being unsold in initial bidding process and he made 50 runs of four matches and three innings.

Playing style and influences

Ganguly commented that David Gower was the first cricketer to attract him to the game. He loved Gower's style and used to watch old videos of him playing. Other cricketers who had an influence on him are: David Boon, Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev and Allan Border. Ganguly is a left-handed batsman whose runs came primarily from the off-side. Debashish Dutta, author of ''Sourav Ganguly, the maharaja of cricket'', commented that throughout his career, "Ganguly played off-side shots such as the square cut, square drive and cover drive with complete command." Rahul Dravid has called Ganguly "...next to God on the off-side." He used to hit powerful shots to the off-side on front and back foot with equal ease. However, early in his career he was not comfortable with the hook and pull, often giving his wicket away with mistiming such shots. He was also criticized for having difficulty in handling short bouncers, notoriously exploited by the Australians and South Africans. However, after his comeback in 2007, he worked upon these weaknesses to a large extent.

Amrita Daityari, author of ''Sourav Ganguly: the fire within'', noted that in ODIs, where Ganguly usually opened the innings, he used to try to take the advantage of fielding restrictions by advancing down the pitch and hitting pace bowlers over extra cover and mid-off. She commented: "Ganguly was notorious for attacking left-arm spin bowlers. Due to excellent eye–hand coordination, he was noted for picking the length of the ball early, coming down the pitch and hitting the ball aerially over mid-on or midwicket, often for a six. However, he did have a weakness in running between the wickets and judging quick singles." There were many instances where Ganguly's batting partner was run out due to Ganguly's calling for a run, and then sending him back while halfway down the pitch. A situation like this happened in an ODI against Australia where he took a single when on 99, but he coasted and did not ground his bat. Although the bat was past the crease, it was in the air and he was consequently run out. Ganguly said, "I love to watch myself hit a cover drive, to watch myself hit a hundred." Ganguly's relationship with former Indian coach John Wright has been well documented in contemporary media, with them denoting the relationship as a "symbiotic process". They credited Wright and Ganguly with bringing out international class performers, through academic, coaching and scientific fitness regimens. According to Dubey, Ganguly and Wright, along with other members of the team like Tendulkar and Dravid, were the first to understand the importance of a foreign coach for the Indian cricket team and was convinced that the domestic coach has outlived its utility. Ganguly's aggressive style and Wright's importance on fitness ushered in the development of a better cricket team for India.

Ganguly is a right-arm medium pace bowler. He can swing and seam the ball both ways and often chips in with useful wickets to break partnerships. Vinod Tiwari, author of the biography ''Sourav Ganguly'' praised him saying "[d]espite not being very athletic as a fielder, Ganguly has taken 100 catches in one-day Internationals. That's something to be proud of!" However he criticized Ganguly's ground fielding, especially his slowness in intercepting the ball to prevent runs and his tendency to get injured during catching the ball.

Legacy

Author Pradeep Mandhani commented that in his tenure between 2000 and 2005, Ganguly became India's most successful Test captain. He led his team to victory on 21 occasions — seven times more than Mohammad Azharuddin with the second most wins—and led them for a record 49 matches—twice more than both Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar. Compared to his batting average of 45.47 when not captain, Ganguly's Test batting average as captain was a lower 37.66.

Statistics about Ganguly show that he was the seventh Indian cricketer to have played 100 Test matches, the 4th highest overall run scorer for India in Tests, and the fourth Indian to have played in more than 300 ODIs. In terms of overall runs scored in ODIs, Ganguly is the second among Indians after Sachin Tendulkar (who has the most ODI runs) and the fifth overall. He has scored 16 centuries in Test matches and 22 in ODIs. He is also one of only eight batsmen to score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs. Along with Tendulkar, Ganguly has formed the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, and hold the world record for creating most number of 50-run partnership in the first wicket (44 fifties). Ganguly became the fourth player to cross 11,000 ODI runs, and was the fastest player to do so in ODI cricket, after Tendulkar. As of 2006, he is the only Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan (although two of the three Tests of that series was led by Rahul Dravid). He is also one of the three players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history, the others being Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

Author Mihir Bose, in his book, ''The magic of Indian cricket: cricket and society in India''. commented that "The cricket world had gotten too used to the stereotype of the meek Indian cricketer. All that has changed under Ganguly, perhaps for the better." He credits Ganguly for not being shy of taking on responsibility. "He showed that he can be a leader of a team, which has greats like Sachin and Dravid in the side, without any problems. Under Ganguly's leadership, India started winning matches and tournaments, previously lacking from the team considerably." Within a few years of his captaincy, Ganguly rewrote the rules of being a captain of a cricket team. Unlike some of his predecessors, Ganguly was considered impartial, non-parochial, and forever pushed his players to perform better. Off the field, his interactions with the media, his fans, and detractors were uncompromisingly honest and earned him the respect of cricket followers everywhere. However, along with this respect came the criticisms. Ganguly was condemned as a hot-tempered man who refused to listen to other's opinions and abided by his own rules and regulations. Matthew Engel, ICC sport critic, noted that this "turning deaf" to other's opinions would one day harm Ganguly and that it was sheer luck that he existed on the sporting world.

Ganguly believed that his legacy as a captain was that he was able to build a proper Indian team. He added,

"[We] were able to change the face of Indian cricket. That's what I'm proud of, because I think we made a huge difference. People used to think that we would simply roll over when playing out of India, but we changed the image. [...] [The team wouldn't take any crap from any opposition] Absolutely, and that came from self-belief that, that we had the ability to do well outside India."

Bose commented that Ganguly's greatest legacy lay in his influence on the younger and budding generation of cricketers. Ganguly felt that every young player should play two years of domestic cricket before being selected for international assignments. He also said that every newcomer should be given at least five games to prove himself. Later he explained that being at the receiving end of an unfair decision against him, that threatened to ruin his international cricket career, it enabled him to understand the insecurities of other newcomers in the team better than his predecessors. Ganguly had always backed the influence and contribution of younger players of the team.

Despite his contributions, his captaincy and coaching methods came under immense scrutiny from the press as well as other scholars. Engel commented that "He seems like aloof to the problems that his mal-decisions are creating. I don't particularly believe that Ganguly has an 'effing knowledge how to lead his team and tries to counter-pose it with instigating limitless, confrontational behaviours within the younger members of it. [One day] the time will come when such shock tactics will cease to work." An article on ''Cricinfo Magazine'' pointed out his reckless behaviour. The reporter Rahul Bhattacharya said, "Generally Ganguly fostered angry or reckless young men. To him 'good behaviour', a broad term espoused by the present team management, belonged in school and probably not even there. He himself had been summoned to the match referee no less than 12 times in the last decade. His approach was bound to precipitate what could possibly be termed a cultural conflict in the world of modern sport. For Ganguly, like for Arjuna Ranatunga, competitiveness involved brinksmanship rather than training. As far as they were concerned Australia were not to be aspired to. They were simply to be toppled. England were not to be appeased. Victory lay precisely in their disapproval. In other words, Ganguly and Ranatunga wanted to do things their way."

See also

List of international cricket centuries by Sourav Ganguly

Notes

References

External links

Cumulative Career Averages

Fastest To Reach Multiples

Sourav Ganguly News Articles

Batting series' averages

Category:1972 births Category:ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Category:Bengali cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Category:East Zone cricketers Category:Indian cricket captains Category:Indian Test captains Category:India One Day International cricketers Category:India Test cricketers Category:Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Category:Kolkata cricketers Category:Indian Premier League cricketers Category:Northamptonshire cricketers Category:Living people Category:People from Kolkata Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:World Cup cricketers of India Category:Alumni of St. Xavier's College, Calcutta Category:University of Calcutta alumni Category:MCC cricketers

bn:সৌরভ গঙ্গোপাধ্যায় de:Sourav Ganguly fr:Sourav Ganguly hi:सौरव गांगुली kn:ಸೌರವ್ ಗಂಗೂಲಿ ml:സൗരവ് ഗാംഗുലി mr:सौरव गांगुली ta:சௌரவ் கங்குலி te:సౌరవ్ గంగూలీ

playername	Russel Arnold
country	Sri Lanka
batting	Left-handed batsman (LHB)
bowling	Right-arm off break (OB)
deliveries	balls
columns	2
column1	Tests
matches1	44
runs1	1821
bat avg1	28.01
100s/50s1	3/10
top score1	123
deliveries1	1334
wickets1	11
bowl avg1	54.36
fivefor1	-
tenfor1	-
best bowling1	3/76
catches/stumpings1	51/-
column2	ODIs
matches2	180
runs2	3950
bat avg2	35.26
100s/50s2	1/28
top score2	103
deliveries2	2157
wickets2	40
bowl avg2	43.47
fivefor2	-
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	3/47
catches/stumpings2	48/-
date	May 2
year	2007
source	http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/48122.html }}

Russel Premakumaran "Rusty" Arnold (රසල් ආනල්ඩ්)(born October 25, 1973, Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer of Tamil descent. Arnold made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1997 and his One day international debut against South Africa later in the year. Originally an opening batsmen, Arnold has since moved down the batting order. He is most famous in the pearl island as a utility and very versatile- making him ideally suitable for the limited over version of the game. However, when he started his career, he was seen primarily as a solid top order batsmen where he impressed against Australia during the AIWA cup of 1999, as well as the subsequent test series against them, where he batted at no. 3. Failure in the 2003 Cricket World Cup saw him sidelined for many months. However, he fought his way back into the side with a string of good scores in domestic cricket for his club, Nondescripts. A calm and cool player in a crisis situation, Arnold has dragged Sri Lanka out of many sticky situations. He is highly valued for his gritty qualities and is considered an unselfish team man. He is considered an ideal No. 6; he is a Methodist Christian and speaks Tamil as does Muttiah Muralitharan. Nicknamed "Rusty" by Roshan Mahanama and Pramodya Wickramasinge, due to it being a very common nickname for the name Russel, and also it complemented his batting style as tough and durable- though not really pretty.

During April 2007 he announced, through team manager Michael Tissera, a shock to Sri Lankan cricket that he intended to retire from the international cricketing scene after the World Cup final. He cited that the pressure of too much travel as his reason.

He is currently playing A grade cricket in Sydney for Hornsby District Cricket Club and has also played numerous games for the Melbourne Super Kings in Melbourne.

Career highlights

Test cricket

Debut: 1st Test, Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan, Colombo, April 1997.

Highest score: 123 vs. Pakistan, Lahore, March 1999.

One-day cricket

Debut: Sri Lanka vs. South Africa, Lahore, November 1997.

Highest score: 103 vs. Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, December 1999.

References

External links

Cricinfo Player Profile: Russel Arnold

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Category:Sri Lankan Methodists Category:Sri Lanka Test cricketers Category:Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers Category:Sri Lankan cricketers Category:Nondescripts Cricket Club cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Category:Sri Lankan Tamil sportspeople Category:Chennai (Indian Cricket League) cricketers

mr:रसेल आर्नॉल्ड ta:றசல் பிரேமகுமாரன் ஆர்னோல்ட்