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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island nation in South Asia, located some 31 kilometers off the southern coast of India. Before 1972, it was known as Ceylon. The official name of Sri Lanka is the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has a strategic location from the viewpoint of sea movement between West Asia and South East Asia. It has also been a Buddhist religious center since ancient times. However today, the country is a multi-ethnic nation and multi-religious nation with some one third of the population being Hindus, Christians and Muslims. The dominant faith is Buddhism. The Sinhalese community predominates with Tamils, in the north and east of the island being the largest ethnic minority. For some time, in the Tamil dominated areas, political uncertainty and armed strife has been going on between a Tamil militant outfit agitating for a homeland and the Government.

Sri Lanka is famed for production and export of coffee, rubber, tea and coconuts. Sri Lanka has a modern industrial economy and the highest per capita income in South Asia.

Sri Lanka Tourism: Sri Lanka's Buddhist history and rich cultural heritage, natural beauty with tropical forests, fine beaches and breathtaking landscape has tourists making a beeline for the island.

Local kingdoms ruled over Ceylon for some two thousand years (the Buddhist chronicled the major written accounts of the country's history in Mahavansa and Dipavamsa).The Portuguese and the Dutch colonized some parts in the early sixteenth century. The entire country was ceded to Britain in 1815. During World War II, Ceylon served as an Allied forces base in World War II. After a nationalist protest, the British granted Sri Lanka its independence in 1948.

In 1960, the country also gained the distinction of the first female prime minister in the world. As per Hindu mythology, Sri Lanka was connected to the Indian mainland by Rama's Bridge or Ram Setu (Adam's Bridge too) of which left today are limestone shoals above the sea. The tear drop shaped island consists mostly of flat-to-rolling coastal plains, with mountains in the south-central part. The highest point Pidurutalagala is 2,524 meters.

Sri Lankan Tourism: Sri Lanka's climate is tropical and hot with May being the hottest month. Humidity levels are high. The flora and fauna reflects the uneven distribution of rains over the country's land mass. In the drier areas, there are flowering acacias and valuable tree species like ebony, satin wood, ironwood, mahogany and teak. In the wet areas, there are tropical evergreen forests. Forests cover one third of Sri Lanka and the world's first country to establish a wildlife sanctuary was Sri Lanka. The Ruhunu National Park has elephant herds, deer and peacocks and the Wilpattu National Park has water birds like pelicans, ibis, storks and spoonbills.

In transportation, Sri Lanka has rail links, road links and inland waterways. The major sports are Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle. Colombo is the country's capital and has the country's only international airport at Katunayaka, 22 kilometers north of Colombo.