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TradeSriLanka.com is for sale along with the mental health and health domains at the Healing Sites Network. Visit today to choose a distinctive name that will help your site stand out from the crowd. |
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Travel Information for Sri Lanka: Location This South Asian island is situated 29 km off southeastern coast of Indian Subcontnent. Palk Strait separates Sri Lanka from India. It is 350km (217miles) long and it's maximum width is 180km (112miles). Its total land area is about 64.740 sq. km. Sri Lanka has its own contrasts; its own fortunes and misfortunes. Over thousands of years travellers to this small island were surprised by its physical beauty and the richness of its culture. Many described it as a Paradise Isle and as the Pearl of the Orient. Then for many years it went through a difficult period under colonial rule. At present it goes through its most difficult times in its history due to the continuing ethnic conflict. Geography Over thousands of years extensive faulting and erosion of the land mass in Sri Lanka have made this island one of the most scenic places in the world. The southern half of Sri Lanka is dominated by the central hill country. This irregular central massif consists of beautiful mountains, plateaus, plains, basins, deep valleys and gorges. The highest mountain, Piduruthlagala, situated closer to Nuwara Eliya, the well known hill country hoiliday resort is 2,524m high. Kirigalpotta is also high and Adam's Peak is 2,243 m high and Namunukula 2,036m high. The northern half of the island is dominated by rolling plains interrupted by isolated ridges. The coastal belt is of less than 100m elevation and the best scenic sandy beaches are found in southwestern, southern and eastern parts of the island. The coast line marked by beautiful lagoons and wetlands. In Jaffna peninsula limestone beds are found in the coastal belt. Closer to Jaffna peninsula, northwest and southeast of the island few offshore islands can be found. Rivers flow from the central hill country to coast. The longest river is Mahaweli (335km) and flows towards Trincomallee, one of the best natural harbours. Sixteen of the island's rivers are longer than 100km. In the central hill country these river flows are interrupted by the irregularity of the terrain to forms many scenic waterfalls and rapids. The lower reaches of these rivers are navigable with flat bottomed man powered rafts. Some of these rivers flow to the ocean across flood plains and deltas. Roughly about 40 percent of the country is covered by forest. Climate Sri Lanka has a tropical climate. Uneven rainfall divides the country into a southwestern wet zone (roughly about quarter of the country) and a dry zone in the remainder of the island. The wet zone get its main rainfall from southwest monsoon rains from May to December and the Dry Zone gets its rainfall from Northeast monsoon rains from December to March. Pockets of Tropical Rain Forests such as Sinharaja, a world heritage site, and Kaleliya are found in the wet zone. The humidity in the wet zone can be quite high. Temperatures at sea level can vary from 25 C to 32 C throughout the year. The temperature in the central hill country can vary between nice 14 C to 16 C. The lowest temperatures in the hill country is generally occur during December and January. Time to visit December to February is generally considered as the best time to visit the wet zone of the island. Many visitors travel to hill country especially Nuwara Eliya during April. A visit to the dry zone will generally be pleasant after the northwest monsoon rains. Getting there Several airlines fly directly to Colombo from Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia. Country's only international airport is situated in Katunayake, km north of Colombo. It takes about 1-1.5 hours from the airport to Colombo depending on traffic and the time of the day. From time to time cruise liners visit Colombo port. Rental car with driver is a generally used mode of transport by most travelers. Coach is another convenient way of transport for pre-organized groups. Travel by train especially to central hill country has been described as a unique experience. Some hire moterbike or self drive rent a car. For short distance travel especially within city limits some use trishaw taxis. Driving is done on the left side of Sri Lanka roads as in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Roads in Colombo and suburbs are congested and traffic is usually very slow moving. Sometimes it may take several hours to drive few kilometers in Colombo. Organized roadside assisstance in the event of vehicle breakdown is poor. Facts Official name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Commercial capital: Colombo (Population 1.2 million) Official Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura (appr. 12km from Colombo) Land Area: 64,740sq km Coastline:1,340km Population: 19 million (July 1999 estimated) Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74%, Tamils 18%, Moor 7% Other 1%. Other group consists mainly of Burger (descendents of Dutch and Portugese), Malay and Veddas. Religions: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8% Languages used: Sinhalese (Official and National language), Tamil (national language) English is spoken by about 10% of the population. Natural resources: few such as graphite, mineral sands, gems, clay, limestone, phosphate Major agricultural products: Tea, rubber, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, spices, milk Major industries: processing of tea, rubber, coconuts and other agricultural produce, clothing industry, cement, petroleum refining Major Exports: Apparel, gems and diamonds, coconut products, rubber products Major Imports: Machinery and equipment, textiles, building materials, petroleum, sugar. Currency: Sri Lanka ruppe=100 cents.
History According to the Mahavamsa (the great genealogy), a chronicle compiled in Pali, the language of Theravada Buddhism, Vijaya is the first legendary colonizer of the island. The legend describes him as the grandson of an Indian princes from Vanga in northern India who had been abducted by a lion, Simha, and as the son of their half-leoning offspring. Vijaya arrived in the land of Lanka along with 700 of his followers on the day of Buddha's parinibbana. Vijaya established himself as the ruler of the island with the help of local Yakka princess, Kuveni. Kuveni had given birth to two of Vijaya's children. According to legend they are the ancestors of present day Veddas, the aboriginal people living in eastern parts of Sri Lanka. The first migrants to the island are believed to have come from northern India during the fifth century B.C. These Sinhalese settlers established themselves first along rivers in the northern dry zone of the island. Faced with scarcity of water during the dry season of the year and unreliable northeast monsoon, these Sinhalese constructed magnificent water storage tanks and reservoirs, irrigation canals and channels. The stored water was used mainly the cultivation of rice. With this engineering ingenuity of Sinhalese settlers the completed several large scale irrigation works. The high population of the people in the north central plains around Anuradhapura was primarily because of the mastery of hydraulic engineering by the early Sinhalese. The kingdom of Anuradhapura flourished during this time (?from 200 B.C. to A.D. 993) Buddhism was introduce to the country in the third century B.C. by Arhat Mahinda, the son of the Indian emperor Asoka. Buddhism became the established religion of the country and flowered due to sponsorship by the kings. Buddhist art and architecture blossomed with the help of the Sinhalese kings. Dynastic struggles, inter-fighting between kingdoms and repeated invasions from southern India made the downfall of the once powerful Anuradhapura Kingdom. In 1070 King Vijayabahu drove Chola invaders from south India out of Sri Lanka and establish his Kingdom in Pollonnaruwa ance again in north central plains. Pollonnaruwa pospered for another two centuries but could not withstand invasions by Indian armies. Pollonnaruwa fell in 1215. During these periods Buddhist institutions were weakened and Sinhalese and Buddhist culture became vulnerable to destruction by the invaders. Information taken from archive of tradesrilanka.com 10/26/2001 |
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TradeSriLanka.com is for sale along with the mental health and health domains at the Healing Sites Network. Visit today to choose a distinctive name that will help your site stand out from the crowd. |
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