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Marco
Polo considered Sri Lanka the finest island of its size in
all the world, and you'll likely agree after exploring the
country's fabled delights. What takes your fancy? Beaches?
The coastal stretch south of Colombo offers palm-lined sandy
expanses as far as the eye can see. Culture? Try the Kandyan
dances, a procession of elephants or the masked devil dances.
Ruins? You'll find enough ancient and inspiring architecture
in the cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa to satisfy that
inner archaeologist, we promise.
And
then there's the natural wealth for which Sri Lanka is rightly
renowned. Head for the hill country to escape the heat of
the plains, where the coast fades away to reveal gorgeous
rolling hills often carpeted with tea plantations. The entire
island is teeming with bird life and exotics like elephants
and leopards are not uncommon. To top it all off, the people
are friendly, the food is delicious and costs are low.
Full
country name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Area: 66,000 sq km
Population: 19 million (annual growth 1.04%)
Capital city: Colombo (pop 2 million)
People: 74% Sinhalese, 18% Tamils, 7% Moor, 1% other
Language: Sinhala, Tamil, English
Religion: 69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Muslim, 8% Christian
Government: Democracy
President: Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremasinghe
GDP:
US$48.1 billion
GDP per head: US$2,500
Annual growth: 4.7%
Inflation: 9.3%
Major industries: Processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and
other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum
refining, textiles, tobacco, rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses,
oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides,
beef
Major trading partners: US, UK, Germany, Japan, Singapore,
India, Iran, Taiwan, Belgium, Hong Kong, China, South Korea
Sri
Lanka Flight from UK
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