Sri Lanka
The Pearl of the Indian Ocean.
About Sri Lanka
A famous saying about Sri Lanka is that ”Sri Lanka is the pearl of Indian ocean” . Any one realizes the depth of it when they visit Sri Lanka. Because the geographical position in the tropical region has gifted it a plenty of natural resources along with the beauty that any one will enjoy with a self-indulgence.
Sri Lanka is a diverse and multicultural country. Since the majority is Sinhalese who are Buddhists, Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage with a high archaeological value . Other than that Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity are there as the other religions. It is home for many ethnic groups such as Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka. But a considerable number of Sri Lankans speak English well. The currency using in Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan Rupees. Although national dresses for each ethnic group are there, they mostly wear western clothes in cotton and other comfortable materials which are suitable for warm climate. The national dresses come out at special cultural occasions and weddings.
Sri Lanka’ s path as a modern, independent nation had been disturbed by the civil war with terrorists for thirty years. It was decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated ”Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” in 2009. Therefore now there is a peaceful and wonderful environment to travel in any part of the country safely for any person.
Dishes include rice and curry, sea food like fish, prawns, crab, and cuttlefish can be tasted for a reasonable price and traditionally food is served on a plantain leaf or a lotus leaf showing the harmony of the life style with the nature. Other than that the traditional dishes of pittu, Kiribath, wholemeal Roti, String hoppers and hoppers are there to be served as breakfast or dinner. Among the local traditional food, number of yams, grains and tastiest tropical fruits like mango, mangusteen, papaya, pineapple, banana, durian and guava are there. But no matter where the travellers come from, the five star hotels in Sri Lanka can provide any type of food that they like.
Sri Lanka has one of the highest road densities in the world (1.5 km of paved roads per every 1km2 of land) with a public transport services provided through buses. Railway network of Sri Lanka consists of main line, coastal line, and up-country line under a fairly low cost. Other than these E-grade highways have been constructed as the latest improvement to Sri Lanka’s road network. These are access-controlled roads with permitted speeds up to 120 km/h. These highways bridge local communities by‾passing congested towns and save the time avoiding long distance road tracts.
Sri Lanka is located between 5 and 10 latitude in the northern hemisphere of the earth. The tropical climate and distributed rainfall throughout the year, have made Sri Lanka an agricultural country which plant tea, coconut, mango, pineapple, mangusteen and coconut like crops which are highly appreciated by the travellers. The climate is hot and humid during the whole year in mid country and low country, but is cooler in the highlands or the up country.Although the shape is like a rain drop, the island of Sri Lanka is about 415 km long from north to south, and about 220 km wide from east to west, with a total land area of about 65,600 square km2. The coastline around it has about 1600 km mostly with a shallow sea. The coastal plain has risen to an inland terrain of rolling misty mountains at the centre. The central hills dominates the south-central region with the highest peak “Piduruthalagala“ with a height of 2524 meters.
Sri Lanka is a diverse and multicultural country. Since the majority is Sinhalese who are Buddhists, Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage with a high archaeological value . Other than that Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity are there as the other religions. It is home for many ethnic groups such as Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka. But a considerable number of Sri Lankans speak English well. The currency using in Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan Rupees.
The Rivers of Sri Lanka originate in the central highlands. They descend and empty into the sea at different places around the country. The catchments or the river basins at the central mountains provide habitats for known freshwater species including 90 fish species (with twenty-six endemics) and 21 crabs species and potentially a large number of unidentified species of organisms. The rivers form spectacular waterfalls when descend over steep cliffs of central hills. But at the low land close to the sea they make flood plains and deltas. “Mahaweli” The longest river of Sri Lanka travels a distance of about 330 km. River Kelani at Kithulgala area is very famous for whitewater rafting. Sri Lanka has no natural lakes. But dams on the Mahaweli and other rivers have created large reservoirs for agricultural purposes. In addition to these a series of tanks are there in the north central plains, storing water to keep the ground water table at a desirable level for the crop cultivation during the dry season. Some of the tanks have been constructed about 2,000 years ago. Other than that Sri Lanka has gifted with forests of rich biodiversity. Some of them are world heritages such as Sinharaja, Kanneliya and Bundala rain forests.
With nearly 1600 km of palm fringed coastline surrounding the country. Sri Lanka is an ideal destination for beach bums. Service providers in Sri Lanka offers windsurfing, kayaking, yachting, water skiing and scuba diving . The best and the most known southern beaches include Tangalla, Beruwala, Mirissa, Bentota and Unawatuna with variety of options including chic boutique hotels, glowing colourful coral reefs, gentle sandbars and turtle hatcheries. The eastern and north eastern coast of Sri Lanka is there to be discovered by the travellers. Among the calm and beautiful Eastern sandy beaches Arugam Bay, Nilaweli and Uppuveli beaches with a shallow sea awaiting for the sun seekers and nature lovers.
Sri Lanka is very famous for elephants, precious stones, textile industry, low cost quality clothing, aurvedic medicine, spices and Ceylon tea. Ceylon tea and spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and clove are famous all over world for their flavour and aroma. About the half of the cinnamon requirement of the world is met by Sri Lanka. The most inspiring fact about Sri Lanka is that the Sri Lankans are very keen on hospitality than any other nation in the world!
