About Sri Lanka
For a small island, Sri Lanka has many nicknames: Serendib, Ceylon, Teardrop of India, Pearl of the Orient. This colourful collection reveals its richness and beauty, and the intensity of affection which it has evoked in visitors. Sri Lanka is situated at the southernmost tip of India. Visitors can head for the rolling hill country to escape the heat of the plains in the cool of tea plantations. The entire island is teeming with bird life, and elephants & leopards are not uncommon. To top it all off, the people are friendly and the food is delicious.
The country officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island of Indian Ocean in South Asia, located about 30 kilometres towards the southern coast of India. Sri Lanka lies between 5° 55′ and 9° 55′ north of the equator and between the eastern longitudes 79° 42′ and 81° 52′. From North to South it has a maximum length of 435 km (270 miles) and at its widest point it measures 225 km. (140 miles), giving it a land area of 65,600 sq.km. (25,000 sq.miles). This entire stretch encompasses beautiful tropical beaches, verdant vegetation, ancient monuments and a thousand delights to please all tastes. It is homeland to about twenty million people.
Culture in Sri Lanka
It is a center of Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times. The country which is multi-religious and multi-ethnic has more than a quarter of the population following faiths other than Buddhism: notably Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. Majority of the population is from the Sinhalese community; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, forms the largest ethnic minority. Communities such as Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs and the Malays form the other minority groups amongst the population. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka’s tropical forests, beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage, make it a world famous tourist destination.
Climate in Sri Lanka
The climate of Sri Lanka is typically tropical with an average temperature of 27°C. In the higher elevations it can be quite cool with temperatures going down to 16°C at an altitude of nearly 2,000 metres. Bright, sunny, warm days are the rule and are common even during the height of the monsoon – climatically Sri Lanka has no off season. The south west monsoon brings rain mainly from May to July to the western, southern and central regions of the island, while the north-east monsoon rains occur in the northern and eastern regions in December and January.