Sri Lanka drops last references to Ceylon

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government said Thursday it has decided to drop the name Ceylon from the last institutions still using the British colonial name for the country.

The country has been independent since 1948, and has been officially called Sri Lanka - meaning resplendent land - since it became a republic in 1972, but Ceylon still appears in the names of some state institutions.

“All state institutions will have to replace Ceylon with Sri Lanka,” Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

These include the Ceylon Transport Board, which runs the pubic bus service, the state-run Bank of Ceylon, and the national broadcaster Radio Ceylon.