Location & Physical Features:  

Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean is located to the south of the Indian subcontinent. It lies between  5° 55′ and 9° 55′ north of the equator and between the eastern longitudes 79° 42′ and 81° 52′. The total  land area is 65,610 sq. km. and is astonishingly varied. A length of 445 km. and breadth of 225 km.  encompass beautiful tropical beaches, verdant vegetation, ancient monuments and a thousand delights to  please all tastes. The relief features of the island consist of a mountainous mass somewhat south of the  centre, with height exceeding 2,500 meters, surrounded by broad plains. Palm fringed beaches surround  the island and the sea temperature rarely falls below 27°C. 

Climate & Seasons :  

In the lowlands the climate is typically tropical with an average temperature of 27°C in Colombo. 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.

Demography:  

Sri Lanka has a population of 20.3 million of whom the majority are Sinhalese (74%). Other ethnic groups  are made up of Sri Lankan Tamils (12.6%), Indian Tamils (5.5%), Moors, Malays, Burghers (of Portuguese  & Dutch descent) and others (7.9%).  

Although Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country, Buddhists constitute the majority with 69.3%. Other  religious groups are Hindus 15.5%, Muslims 7.6% and Christians 7.5%. Sri Lanka’s literacy rate of 88.6%  is one of the highest in Asia.  

Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country. The chief crop is rice with which the country is almost self  sufficient. Tea, rubber and coconut are also important agricultural crops, with tea being a major foreign exchange earner. In addition, other crops of importance are cocoa and spices such as cinnamon,  cardamom, nutmeg, pepper and cloves. Fruit and vegetables, native to both tropical and temperate