Toponymy

Main article: Names of Sri Lanka

In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names. According to the Mahāvaṃsa,
the legendary Prince Vijaya named the island Tambapaṇṇĩ ("copper-red hands" or "copper-red
earth"), because his followers' hands were reddened by the red soil of the area where he landed.[22]
[23]
In Hindu mythology, the term Lankā ("Island") appears but it is unknown whether it refers to the
modern-day state. The Tamil term Eelam (Tamil: ஈழம், romanized: īḻam) was used to designate the
whole island in Sangam literature.[24][25] The island was known under Chola rule as Mummudi
Cholamandalam ("realm of the three crowned Cholas").[26]
Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā (Ancient Greek: Ταπροβανᾶ)
or Taprobanē (Ταπροβανῆ)[27] from the word Tambapanni. The Persians and Arabs referred to it
as Sarandīb (the origin of the word "serendipity") from Sanskrit Siṃhaladvīpaḥ.[28][29] Ceilão, the name
given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese Empire when it arrived in 1505,[30] was transliterated into
English as Ceylon.[31] As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved
independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.
The country is now known in Sinhala as Śrī Laṅkā (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා) and in Tamil
as Ilaṅkai (Tamil: இலங்கை, IPA: [iˈlaŋɡaɪ]). In 1972, its formal name was changed to "Free,
Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka". Later, on 7 September 1978, it was changed to
the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka".[32][33] As the name Ceylon still appears in the names
of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all
those over which it has authority.[34]