Sri Lanka, historically known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.

Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million people and is home to many cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the nation's population, followed by the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in northern Sri Lanka; both groups have played an influential role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda.

In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names. According to the Mahāvamsa, a Pāḷi chronicle written in the 5th century CE, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are said to be the Yakshas and Nagas. Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BCE with the arrival of Prince Vijaya, a semi-legendary prince who sailed with 700 followers to Sri Lanka, after being expelled from Vanga Kingdom (present-day Bengal). He established the Kingdom of Tambapanni, near modern-day Mannar. Vijaya (Singha) is the first of the approximately 189 monarchs of Sri Lanka described in chronicles such as the Dipavamsa, Mahāvaṃsa, Cūḷavaṃsa, and Rājāvaliya.

As much as it is known for its culture, Sri Lanka is known for its beaches. Southern part of the island is almost given over to a beachfront culture, broken only by the magnificence of the fort at Galle, where both the exclusive Fort Printers and the sumptuous Amangalla provides succour to visitors. The recent opening of the east coast around Trincomalee and further south towards Passekudah coupled with a sudden influx of wonderful hotels, including Uga Bay and Jungle Beach, both truly luxurious beachfront hotels, means that Sir Lanka is now a year round destination. Here endless stretches of azure-blue seas and white-sand beaches draw visitors from around the world.