A Sri Lankan Odyssey Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vedda

Sri Lanka was named Taprobane by ancient Greek geographers. In 1505, the Portuguese renamed it Ceilao or Ceylon in English. Finally, it became Sri Lanka in 1972. Vedda are an indigenous people of the country.

Answer: 1948

Before 1948, the country had been a colony of India, China, Persia, the Netherlands and Portugal among others.

Answer: Black

The Sri Lankan flag has a yellow background with a small green stripe, a small orange stripe and a wider dark red stripe. On the dark red stripe is a yellow emblem of a lion holding a sword.

Answer: Tsunami

The Boxing Day tsunami was triggered by a 9.3 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, and was so powerful that it also hit Sri Lanka and neighbouring Indian Ocean countries. In fact, it was so strong that there were aftershocks in places as far away as Somalia, Iceland and the Eastern USA!

Answer: Kandy

Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka and the country's main port. Jaffna is on the north coast and is a centre of trading for products such as tobacco, rice, coconuts, palmyra palm, and vegetables, and also for the fishing business. Galle is a colonial city dominated by Dutch and Portuguese architectural styles, and is a popular tourist destination for both its culture and its beaches.

However, Kandy is in a hilly area inland, close to many tea plantations. It is also the country's second largest city after Colombo.

Answer: James Taylor

James Taylor arrived in Sri Lanka in 1852 aged 17, and set up the first tea plantations there, often working with fellow Scottish immigrant Thomas Lipton (inventor of Lipton tea). Tea plantations replaced coffee ones because of a diseased crop, and Ceylon tea is renowned today for its quality and flavour.

Answer: Cricket World Cup

This was Sri Lanka's first major sporting trophy, and they defeated Australia in Lahore, Pakistan. It was also the first time Sri Lanka had hosted parts of the competition (in Kandy and Colombo).

Answer: Lion

More specifically, Sri Lanka's national mammal is a Royal Lion, as featured on its flag. The country also has a national bird, the Jungle Fowl, and a national butterfly, the Sri Lankan Birdwing.

Answer: A Pancake

A hopper is a special type of pancake that mainly consists of rice flour and coconut milk. They're mainly a breakfast dish, and can be filled with anything from eggs and courgettes to cashews and coconut.

Answer: Tuk-Tuk

Despite their popularity and commonness in Sri Lanka and othe developing and developed Asian and African countries, Tuk-Tuks and other motorised rickshaws are based on an Italian design, called the Piaggio Ape C, from 1948. In Sri Lanka, Tuk-Tuks are slow vehicles that can often be outrun by a human being.