Sri Lanka Directory

Just off the southeastern tip of India lies the Island of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans are mainly Buddhists. Sri Lanka's capital and chief port, Colombo is a blend of old and modern buildings, with a busy bazaar area, Pettah, and there are Buddhist and Hindu temples. The main languages are Sinhala, English, and Tamil and their currency is Sri Lankan rupee. Farming employs forty per cent of the farmers and nearly thirty per cent of the land is utilized for growing rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, and sugarcane for their livelihood or working on the plantations producing coconuts, rubber, and tea for export. Sri Lanka is the world's largest exporters of tea, and the tea overseas is still marketed as Ceylon tea. The country has more than 2,000 tea estates. Sri Lanka produces brilliant gemstones, which are found near Ratnapura, the "City of Gems." At the heart of country is the Kandy, the Buddhist holy city.