4th February: Sri Lanka Independence Day

Sri Lanka Independence Day is today. Here are some things you may not know about Sri Lanka:

1. Sri Lanka means "resplendent island" in Sanskrit. It has been known by many other names. Until 1972, it was known as Ceylon; in ancient times travellers called the island by different names depending on where they had come from: Indian travellers called it Lanka or Sinhala, ancient Greeks called it Taprobane (the historical name for an island in the Indian Ocean) and Arabs referred to it as Serendib, which was the origin of the word "serendipity" meaning pleasant surprise, which Horace Walpole coined from the Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, who were known for finding things by accident. It is nicknamed ‘pearl of the Indian Ocean’ and the ‘teardrop of India’.
2. Sri Lanka may have been inhabited for as long as 500,000 years, although the first written reference to it is in the Indian epic poem Ramayana. In it, Sri Lanka was created by the divine sculptor Vishwakarma for Kubera, the Lord of Wealth. He was overthrown by his step-brother, Ravana, who had built a flying machine. Hence the modern city of Wariyapola is sometimes referred to as Ravana's airport.
3. According to Hindu mythology, Sri Lanka was once connected to the Indian mainland by a land bridge, reportedly passable on foot up to 1480 AD, but all that is left of it now is a chain of limestone shoals.
4. Sri Lanka was the first Asian country to be ruled by a woman, Queen Anula, who reigned 47–42 BC, and more recently it had the first female prime minister in the world, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, first elected in 1960.
5. It was also the first country in the world to have a dedicated hospital, established in the 4th century in Mihintale.
6. Sri Lanka is the world’s largest Tea exporter, but tea was only introduced to it in 1867. Before that, it was famous for its Coffee, but when the coffee crop was wiped out by disease in the 1870s they switched to growing tea.
7. Cinnamon originated there; the Egyptians discovered it. Sri Lanka still produces 80-90% of the world's cinnamon supply.
8. When Queen Cleopatra sent her son Caesarion into hiding, he went to Sri Lanka.
9. The highest point is Pidurutalagala, reaching 2,524 metres (8,281 ft) above sea level. The longest river is the Mahaweli River, and the largest city is Colombo.
10. If a Sri Lankan shakes their head with a slight wiggle, they are actually saying "yes"