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About Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an Island famous for its 1,600 km of unspoilt, golden beaches. It's a paradise Island shaped like a tear drop in the Indian Ocean. Formerly known as Ceylon and famous for its wonderful Tea, Sri Lanka is a vibrant country with an incredible history. It's a country of 20  million people; rich in its diversity of culture, race, language and  religion.


The island has an abundance of natural resources, fauna and flora, mountains, rivers and beautiful beaches with excellent scuba diving, snorkelling,sailing and surfing. It is located at the crossroads where East meets West and is regarded as the gateway to South Asia. The hill country has gorgeous rolling hills and tea plantations. The entire island is teeming with wild life and exotics like elephants and leopards.


The people are friendly, food delicious and costs low. A stunning island filled with beaches and wild life sanctuaries like the Elephant Orphanage, ancient cities, hills, beaches - and most of all, it's incredible beauty.


Animal life is profuse and includes the ubiquitous elephant, as well as leopards, deer, monkeys, sloth bears, wild boar, cobras, crocodiles, dugong and turtles. The island is an important seasonal home to migrating birds, including flamingoes, who flock to the lagoons, wetlands and bird sanctuaries for respite from the northern winter.      
 

   
   
Country Name            
Sri Lanka (Map of Sri Lanka)
Capital Colombo
Size 
65,525 sq km
Population 20,926,315 milion
Population Density 309 people per sq km
Location An island off the south-eastern cost shores of India, 880 km north of the equator, in the Indian Ocean.
   
 
Government                    Sri Lanka is a free, independent and sovereign nation with a population of 20,926,315 million (July 2007 est.). Legislative power is exercised by a Parliament, elected by universal franchise on proportional representation basis. A President, who is also elected by the people, exercises executive power inclusive of defence. Sri Lanka enjoys a multi party system, and the people vote to elect a new government every six years.
Life Expectancy at Birth 74 female, 64 male
Literacy rate 91.8%
Languages Sinhala, Tamil and English are widely spoken throughout Sri Lanka, with the exception of remote villages where it might be Sinhala only or Tamil only
Ethnic Groups Sinhalese- 74 per cent; Tamil- 18 per cent; Muslim -7 per cent; Burgher (descendants of Dutch and Portuguese colonist) and others- 1 per cent
Religions Buddhism- 70 per cent; Hinduism- 16 per cent; Christianity- 7 per cent; Islam-7 per cent
Climate

Low Lands – tropical, average 27C

Central Hills – cooler, with temperatures dropping to 10C.

The south-west monsoon brings rain to the western, southern and central regions from May to July, while the north-eastern monsoon is from December t0 January. Sri Lanka climate is ideal for holiday-makers throughout the year.

GDP per capita PPP US$ 4100
Industries Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco.
Agriculture - Products Rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, roots, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, meat.
Currency    Sri Lankan Rupee. Current Exchange Rate against leading currencies: Click Here
Time Difference Sri Lanka is 5 hrs. ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
Banking hours 0900 hrs. to 1500 hrs., Mon-Fri.
Credit Cards All the major credit and charge cards are widely accepted.
Electricity Voltage : 230 – 240 volts 50 Cycles A.C.
Food Many races have contributed to Sri Lanka's culinary diversity - Indians, Arabs, Portuguese,  Dutch, British  Malays, Chinese  ..... as you can imagine the range of foods is immense!
What to Wear All-year-round wear should be light cotton, drip-dry dresses and light-weight suits, Comfortable shoes or sandals, a wide-brimmed beach hat and sun glasses.  However, in the hill country temperatures can drop to as low as 10’C


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