AYUBOWAN ! WANAKKAM ! ASSALAMU ALAYEKKUM !

MY HOME, MY LAND.................I CARE FOR YOU

My  country is Sri Lanka. It is located in the subcontinent.  Even though, in terms of size,  it is a small country and is still a developing one, it has many marvels and wonders in it.

Sigiriya is one of the eight wonders of the world. This was built by King Kashyapa long time ago. Historians and artists have now declared that the sigiriya frescoes have commonalities with the famous Ajantha Paintings in India.

Sri Lanka once known as Tambapanni, Serendib, Lakdiwa, Ceylon is an island. It is especially because of this feature that Sri Lanka has been so beautiful.  Due to its geographical location midway between the world's major sea routes and its abundance of natural resources, For thousands of years Sri Lanka has been able to attract foreigners from all corners of the world. From Marco Polo to the Portuguese, Dutch and British invaders the island has been able to capture the attention of the world. The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505 and captured most  of the coatal areas of the country. The Dutch managed to usurp power from their predecessors in 1656, bringing significant parts of the country under Dutch rule. The final occupation was of the British, who went  a step further to obtain entire control of the island by the Kandyan Convention in 1815. After almost four centuries of colonial rule, Sri Lanka gained political independence on the fourth day of February, 1948. 

Since its independence, the country has been one of the major tourist destinations in the world. However, the three decade old political turmoil and 2004 Tsunami has dealt severe blows on the tourist input to Sri Lanka and thereby its economy.The war was officially declared over by the President on May 19th 2009, and the war-torn island awaits a new life.  

It has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population of about 20 million, of which  the Sinhalese form the majority, and the Tamils the largest minority.  The Moors are also a significant national minority. Approximately seventy percent of the people are Theravadha Buddhists by birth, while the rest belong to the Hindu, Christian and Islamic faiths.  The official languages of Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Tamil but English is also widely used in many places, especially in the capital.

Sri Jayawardhenapura Kotte is our capital but Colombo is still known as the commercial capital. Similar to every other nation in this world, we too  have our own unique culture, ranging from cuisine to music, arts and literature, to dress code and traditional customs. Also it is noteworthy to mention that our country is home to one of the most oldest civilizations, one that is highly rich in value and expression. We have a heritage which is more than two thousand five hundred years old. The ruins of the ancient monuments, stupas, rock inscriptions ("sellipis")  illustrate this feature to the world. The most noble temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy is one of these, we do value and respect as Sri Lankans, regardless of ethnicity or religious affliation. The Sinhala-Tamil New Year holds a national cultural significance and is celebrated with much pomp and jubilation by most people in the country.  Apart from that, other major religious festivals such as Vesak, Poson (Buddhist), Deepavali, Maha Siva Rathri (Hindu), Christmas, Easter (Christian) and Ramadan, Hajj (Muslim) are public holidays and are celebrated by the specific communities. 

With respect to the provision of public services, Sri Lanka practices a socialist-oriented system. Education is compulsory to every child from age 5 to age 14.  The public school system deliver education free-of-charge, although facilities may differ based on the school and its geographical location.  Post-secondaary education is also free unlike most othter developed countries. In addition to free education, scholarships and bursaries are also offered to eligible students. However, university admission is highly competitive.  Therefore, it is very difficult to find a guaranteed place in a national university even for those with an overall good academic performance. Besides, education, a two-tier health care system operates in Sri Lanka. There are general hospitals in most areas and medical care centers specialized for specific ailments, such as eye, dental, cancer, etc, which deliver free-of-charge health care to all citizens.  Alongside the public health care systems, those who are financially able can look to private hospitals and channeling services for their medical needs. The government also funds medical research and training as well as basic medical colleges in the country. 

In the past, travellers had identified it as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. However,the unfavourable situation that has existed since independence indicate a different story. Nevertheless, as it is said, failures are the pillars of success. Therefore, Sri Lanka can always learn from its past and work hard to build a wonderful land which can look forward to a new future.

My utmost wish is that this small island would shine throughout the world one day...

Hope You enjoyed reading about my country and gathered something from it.