sri lanka (name)

sri lanka

Name

Main article: Names of Sri Lanka

See also: List of country name etymologies

In ancient times, Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names: ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobane^[11] and Arabs referred to it as Serendib (the origin of the word "serendipity").^[12]Ceilão was the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505,^[13] which was transliterated into English as Ceylon.^[14] In 1972, the official name of the country was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka" (in Sinhala: śrī laṃkā, IPA: [ˌʃɾiːˈlaŋkaː]; whereas the island itself is referred to as ලංකාව laṃkāva, IPA: [laŋˈkaːʋə], in Tamil இலங்கை ilaṅkai, iˈlaŋɡai). In 1978 it was changed to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka".^[15] The current name is derived from the Sanskrit word lanka, meaning "island",^[16] which was also the name of the island as described in the ancient Indian epics Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The word "Sri" is a Sanskrit title meaning sacred.