The Wanniyala-Aetto, or "forest beings" (This is the name they call themselves; the commonly known name is "Veddahs" in Sinhalese) are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. They are hunter-gatherers and have lived in their tropical forest environment for the past 18,000 years. They are disappearing rapidly, due to assimilation and the loss of their forest home. Population estimates range from several hundred to a few thousand.