Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is a beautiful tropical island off the southern west coast of India. It looks like a tear drop in the Indian Ocean, with the Laccadive Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the north. Sri Lanka (as Ceylon) was under British rule along with India until 1948. It has been a separate independent country since then. There is presently a horrible civil war in Sri Lanka, which may be coming to an end.