Sri Lanka (pronunciation: /sriːˈlɑːŋkə/, /sriːˈlæŋkə/ or ⁱ/ʃriː ˈlɑːŋkə/; Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, śrī laṃkā, Tamil: இலங்கை, ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon (pron.: /sɨˈlɒn/, /seɪˈlɒn/, or /siːˈlɒn/), Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest.