Sinhala (or සිංහල, pronounced [ˈsiŋɦələ]), also known as Sinhalese, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Sinhala has its own writing system, the Sinhala alphabet, which includes mostly curlicues, i.e. straight lines are almost completely absent from the alphabet, because it used to be written on dried palm leaves, which would split along the veins on writing straight lines. Writing system: Sinhala alphabet (Brahmic) Official language in: Sri Lanka