The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent. Sri Lanka is about half the size of Alabama. Most of the land is flat and rolling; mountains in the south-central region rise to over 8,000 ft (2,438 m).The capital of the country is Sri Jayawardanapura while the largest city is Colombo.
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It was known as Ceylon before 1972, and Serendib, among other names, before that. It was South Asia's oldest democracy.