Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka is an island nation off the coast of India in the Indian Ocean which was colonized by settlers from India and thus shares much of Indian history. Buddhism arrived in the 3rd century B.C.E. and for centuries Sri Lanka was the center of Theravada Buddhism; today the religion has revived and is again playing an important role. Sri Lanka was colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, winning independence from Britain in 1948. Since the 1980s it has seen factional fighting between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils as the Tamils have sought a separate homeland. A democracy, Sri Lanka has seen more than one female ruler including its current President. For more information about Sri Lanka, please click on the above buttons.
