Dominion of Ceylon

Ceylon^[1]
Ceylon
1948–1972
	Top: Flag (1948–1951) ; Bottom: Flag (1951–1972) Coat of arms
	Anthem: Sri Lanka Matha (1951–1972) God Save the King (1948–1951) ;
Capital and largest city	Colombo; 6°56′04″N 79°50′34″E / 6.93444°N 79.84278°E
Common languages	Sinhala; Tamil; English
Religion	Buddhism (official); Hinduism; Christianity; Islam;
Demonym(s)	Ceylonese
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1948–1952	George VI
• 1952–1972	Elizabeth II
Governor-General
• 1948–1949	Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore
• 1949–1954	Lord Soulbury
• 1954–1962	Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
• 1962–1972	William Gopallawa
Prime Minister
• 1948–1952	D. S. Senanayake
• 1952–1953	Dudley Senanayake
• 1953–1956	Sir John Kotelawala
• 1956–1959	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
• March 1960–July 1960	Dudley Senanayake
• July 1960–1972	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Legislature	Parliament of Ceylon
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
History
• Independence	4 February 1948
• JVP Insurrection	1971
• Republic	22 May 1972
Area
1956	65,610 km2 (25,330 sq mi)
Population
• 1956	8,104,000
Currency	Ceylon Rupee
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	British Ceylon
Sri Lanka
	"Sri Lanka". Retrieved 30 March 2010.; "Ceylon Independent, 1948–1956". World History at KMLA. Retrieved 30 March 2010.

Ceylon^[1]^[3] was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, that shared a monarch with other dominions of the Commonwealth. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.

^ ^a ^b The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name.
^ ^a ^b Havinden, Michael A.; Meredith, David (1 June 2002). Colonialism and Development: Britain and its Tropical Colonies, 1850-1960. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-134-97738-3.
^ International treaties Archived 21 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine also referred to the state as "Ceylon", not the "Dominion of Ceylon"; "Ceylon" was also the name used by the UN for the state.