Sri Lanka's history is one, which faded years
ago. It is known mainly in two ways firstly as a Buddhist country
and secondly as demon Rawana's Lanka where Lord Ram skipped to
rescue Sita. It's actual history starts from 4th century B.C. when
Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura developed as the strongest
kingdom of all, but with the coming of Mahinda, son of the great
Buddhist emperor Ashoka in 3rd century B.C the King and his
followers were soon converted to Buddhism.
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Facts at a glance
Country Name Conventional long form: Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Ceylon
Size 65,525 sq km
Capital Sri Jayawardenepura
Commercial Capital Colombo
Government Sri Lanka, is a free, independent and sovereign nation
with a population of 18.774 million (1998 mid year estimates).
Legislative power is exercised by a Parliament, elected by
universal franchise on proportional representation basis. A
President, who is also elected by the people, exercises executive
power inclusive of defense. Sri Lanka enjoys a multi party system,
and the people vote to elect a new government every six years.
National Flag National Flag of Sri Lanka is the Lion Flag. A Lion
bearing a sword in its right hand is depicted in gold on red
background with a yellow border. Four Bo leaves pointing inwards
are at the four corners. Two vertical bands of green and orange at
the mast end represent the minority ethnic groups. It is an
adaptation of the standard of the last King of Sri Lanka.
National Anthem "Sri Lanka Matha" composed by late Mr. Ananda
Samarakoon.
Click on the Speaker Icon to listen to a few bars of the Anthem
National Flower the Blue Water Lily (Nymphaea stellata) is the
National Flower.
Population 19 million
Population density 309 people per sq km
Life expectancy at birth 74 female, 64 male
Literacy rate 91.8%
Languages Sinhala & Tamil English is widely spoken throughout Sri
Lanka, with the exception of remote villages.
Ethnic mix Sihalese- 74 per cent; Tamil- 18 per cent; Muslim -7
per cent; Burgher (descendants of Dutch and Portuguese colonist)
and others- 1 per cent
Religion Buddhism- 70 per cent; Hinduism- 16 per cent;
Christianity- 7 per cent; Islam-7 per cent
Climate Low Lands – tropical, average 27C
Central Hills – cooler, with temperatures dropping to 14C. The
south-west monsoon brings rain to the western, southern and
central regions from May to July, while the north-eastern monsoon
occurs in the north and east in December and January. Sri Lanka
has a good climate for holiday-makers throughout the year.
Annual per capita GNP US$870
Industries Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other
agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining,
textiles, tobacco.
Agriculture - Products Rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed,
roots, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, meat.
Currency Sri Lanka follows decimal currency system in Rupees (Rs.)
and cents (Cts.) with 100 cents equal to a rupee. Currency notes
are available in the denominations of Rs. 2,10,20,50,100,200, 500
and 1000. Coins are issued in values of Cts.1,2,5,10, 25 and 50
and Rs.1,2,5 and 10. The intervention currency continuously will
be the US Dollar.
Visa Residents from countries are issued visas on arrival. Consult
your local Sri Lanka embassy, consulate, tourist office or your
travel agent.
Working week Sri Lanka works a five-day week, from Monday to
Friday.
Business hours Government offices 9.00 a.m. -5.00 p.m, Monday to
Friday
Banks 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. or 3.00 p.m. Monday to Saturday
Post office 8.30 a.m.- 5.00 p.m.,
Monday to Friday
8.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. on Saturday. The Central Mail Exchange, at
D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10, (Telephone : 326203) is open
24-hours.
Location An island off the south-eastern cost shores of India, 880
km north of the equator, in the Indian Ocean.
History of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to
fade into the mist of legend. Is not Adam’s Peak said to be the
very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been sent out of
heaven? Isn’t that his footprint squarely on top of the mountain
to prove it? Or is it the Buddha’s footprint on Sri Pada? And
isn’t Adam’s Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to
India) the very series of stepping stones Rama, aided by his
faithful ally, the monkey god Hanuman, stepped across in his
mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of the Rawana,King of
Lanka, in the epic Ramayana?
The first entries in the Mahavamsa – or “Great History” – date
back to 543BC, which coincides with the arrival of Prince Vijaya
in Sri Lanka. Some 300 years later, commenced the early
Anuradhapura Period, with King Devanampiya Tissa as the first
ruler. It was in this period that a sapling of the sacred Bo Tree,
under which the Lord Buddha attained enlightenment, was brought to
Sri Lanka. The late Anuradhapura Period, which began in the year
459, saw the reign of King Kasyapa, and the construction of
Sigiriya. The Polonnaruwa period, witnessed the transfer of the
capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa in 1073. Famed explorer,
Marco Polo, arrived in Sri Lanka in the period between 1254 and
1324, and, in 1505, the Portuguese landed, and occupied the
island’s coastal regions.
The Portuguese Period
At this time Sri Lanka had three main kingdoms – the Kingdom
of Jaffna in the north, the Kingdom of Kandy in the central
highlands and Kotte, the most powerful, in the south-west. In 1505
the Portuguese, under Lorennco de Almeida established friendly
relations with the king of Kotte and gained, for Portugal, a
monopoly in the spice and cinnamon trade, which soon became of
enormous importance in Europe. Attempts by Kotte to utilize the
strength and protection of the Portuguese only resulted in
Portugal taking over and ruling not only their regions, but the
rest of the island, apart form the central highlands around Kandy.
Because the highlands were remote and inaccessible, the kings of
Kandy were always able to defeat the attempts by the Portuguese to
annex them, and on a number of occasions drove the Portuguese
right back down to the coast.
The Dutch Period
Attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the
Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power
for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese
contact, the Dutch took control over the costal areas of the
Island. During their 140-year-rule the Dutch, like Portuguese,
were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy
under their control. The Dutch were much more interested in trade
and profits than the Portuguese, who spent a lot of efforts
spreading their religion and extending their physical control.
The British Period
The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the
European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by
the British, who in 1815 also won the control of the kingdom of
Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole island.
But in 1802, Sri Lanka became a Crown Colony and in 1818 a unified
administration for the island was set up. Soon the country was
dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network
of roads and railways were built to handle this new economic
activity. English became the official language, and is still
widely spoken.
Coffee was the main crop and the backbone of the colonial economy,
but the occurrence of a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the
1870s and the plantations quickly switched over to tea or rubber.
Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter. The
British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and
willingly on the plantations, so they imported large number of
South Indian laborers from South India. Sinhalese peasants in the
hill country lost land to the estates.
Independence
Between WW I and WW II, political stirrings started to push
Sri Lanka towards eventual independence from Britain – but in a
considerably more peaceful and low-key manner than in India. At
the end of WW II it was evident that independence would come very
soon, in the wake of independence for Sri Lanka’s neighbor. In
February 1948 Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was still known, became
an independent member of the British Commonwealth.