Q 01/05

Sri Lanka lies just off the southern tip of which country?

A) Indonesia

B) India

C) Thailand

D) Pakistan

Answer · why

B) India

A chain of limestone shoals called Adam's Bridge or Rama Setu links the two; legend says it was walkable until cyclones broke it up in 1480.

Q 02/05

Which city is Sri Lanka's executive and judicial capital, and its largest city?

A) Jaffna

B) Colombo

C) Kandy

D) Galle

Answer · why

B) Colombo

The Portuguese built a fort there in 1517. The legislature sits in neighbouring Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, one of the world's longest capital names.

Q 03/05

Sri Lanka's parliament sits in which city, its legislative capital?

A) Nuwara Eliya district

B) Polonnaruwa city

C) Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

D) Anuradhapura city

Answer · why

C) Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Usually shortened to Kotte, it was the seat of a 15th-century kingdom and adjoins the Colombo urban area.

Q 04/05

Which strait separates Sri Lanka from the subcontinent to its north-west?

A) Palk

B) Sunda

C) Malacca

D) Hormuz

Answer · why

A) Palk

Together with the Gulf of Mannar. Adam's Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals, runs across it between Mannar Island and India's Pamban Island.

Q 05/05

In which year did the island gain independence from Britain?

A) 1955

B) 1960

C) 1948

D) 1950

Answer · why

C) 1948

Independence Day is 4 February. D. S. Senanayake became the first prime minister and the Royal Navy stayed at Trincomalee until 1956.