The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. An island nation in South Asia, it was known as Ceylon until 1972. Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait and lies in the vicinity of India and Maldives.

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. 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.