Top Tourist Places to Visit in Sri Lanka, Asia

Top Tourist Places to Visit in Sri Lanka, Asia

Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia which covers an area of 65,610 sq. km. Colombo is the commercial capital and Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is the official capital of the country. Sri Lanka is popularly called as “The tear drop of India”, “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean” and “The nation of smiling people”. Sri Lanka is one of the member countries of SAARC, United Nations, the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Important facts of Sri Lanka:

Official Languages – Sinhala, Tamil

Currency – Sri Lankan Rupee

Calling Code – +94

Geography and Climate of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka is situated between 6°54′ N latitude and 79°54′ E longitude and is surrounded by India in the northwest and Maldives towards southwest. Sri Lanka experiences a tropical and warm climate.

Major cities of Sri Lanka:

Colombo

Moratuwa
Kotte
Kandy
Galle
Dambulla
Jaffna

Brief history of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka was earlier known as Ceylon. It is officially called as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and gained independence from United Kingdom on 4 February 1948.

Economy of Sri Lanka:

The economy of Sri Lanka is based on tourism, food production, telecommunication, textiles manufacturing and banking. It is well known for its tea, coffee, gemstones, cinnamon, coconuts and rubber production.

Culture, Cuisine and Shopping in Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka is a secular country houses different religion, communities and languages. It ranks 57^th in the population in the world with a population of 20,277,597 (as of 2012 census). The population comprises of 74.88% of Sinhalese, 11.2% of Sri Lankan Tamils, 9.2% of Sri Lankan Moors and Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda forms the rest of population. The people of Sri Lanka speak the official languages Sinhala and Tamil along with English.

Sri Lanka organizes Hindu and Buddhist New Year festivals in the month of April every year. Esala Perahera is a Buddhist festival with variety of dances celebrated in the month of August in Kandy. Muslims celebrates Ramadan and Hajji and Tamils celebrates Maha Shivaratri and Thai Pongal every year.

Similar to nearby country India, rice is the major staple food used in Sri Lanka. The popular eateries in Sri Lanka include pittu, Kiribath, wholemeal Roti, String hoppers and kottu. Jackfruit is very famous among the regions of Sri Lanka.

All the major regions of Sri Lanka are well developed in shopping sector, especially Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Katunayake, Kalmunai and Batticaloa. Tourists can purchase any type of products in Sri Lanka including varieties of handicraft products.

Transportation in Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka has well developed road infrastructure and upgraded railway and air facilities. The major international airports in Sri Lanka are Bandaranaike International Airport (Colombo) and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (Hambantota).

All the cities of Sri Lanka are served by both private and government organizations buses and also have good railway connections. Colombo is the centre point for Sri Lankan Railway network.

Must see in Sri Lanka:

National Museum of Colombo:

National Museum of Colombo is one of the must visit tourist destinations in Sri Lanka situated in Colombo city. It was constructed in the year 1877.

Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque:

Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque is the sacred place of Sri Lankan Muslims as well as the famous tourist destination in Colombo City. It is placed in the Second Cross Street in Pettah.

Royal Botanical Garden:

Royal Botanical Garden is a beautiful garden located in Peradeniya of Kandy. The orchid house and the suspension bridge are the top attractions of the garden. The entrance fee for foreign tourists is 1100 LKR.

The list of other tourist attractions in Sri Lanka is: