Sri
Lanka / Geography
The country known to have many names, Lanka or
Ilankai to the Sinhalese and the Tamils, Taprobane
to the ancient Romans, Serendib to the Muslim
traders of past centuries, Ceilao as christened
by the Portuguese, Ceylan by the Dutch followed
by Ceylon as it was called under the British,
and finally Sri (meaning 'auspicious') Lanka,
as what it is known today.
Sun
bronzed beaches, green paddy fields, breathtaking
mountains, tropical forests, ancient ruins, an
amazing diversity of flora and fauna, near desert
regions and a fascinating tapestry of culture,
customs and religion - all of this in a packed
of teardrop shaped bundle below the Indian subcontinent
in the Indian Ocean.
Ayubowan,
as they say in Sri Lanka with a gentle bow of
the head and hands folded together - 'greetings',
'hello', 'good morning', 'welcome', 'how are you',
'may you have a long life', and even 'goodbye'
- a small word with so many meanings, describing
perfectly the atoll which Marco Polo procrlaimed
as the finest island of in this side of the world.
The teardrop shaped island of Sri Lanka is positioned
on the world map just off the southern end of
India in the northern Indian Ocean. It lies between
50 55’ and 90 55 North of the equator and between
790 42 and 810 52’ east of the Prime Meridian.
The total area is 65,610 sq km, a size roughly
the same as Ireland or Tasmania with a maximum
length of 445 km and breadth of 225.3 km.
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