Sri Lanka is a fascinating country to visit and there are many interesting facts on Sri Lanka. Lonely Planet just named Sri Lanka as the number one destination to visit – and with good reason! The country is rich in history and has a vibrant culture and of course has some of the most delicious food as well.
also read: Amazing Facts: Interesting facts about Space
The name “Sri Lanka” is Sanskrit for “resplendent island”. Although many establishments still use “Ceylon” in their names, the government has plans to rename all of the institutions over which it has control to “Sri Lanka”. Despite being the 122nd smallest country in the world, Sri Lanka still manages to account for over 19% of tea exports, worldwide. Sri Lanka is located south of India and is a teardrop shaped island in the Laccadive Sea. Sri Lanka is slightly smaller than Ireland and about a quarter of the size of the UK with a population of around 21 million people. The capitol city is Colombo and the international airport there is called Barndaranaike International Airport located about 30 minutes outside of Colombo. Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon and gained their independence from the British in 1948 when it was named the Dominion of Ceylon and then became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. The oldest living tree known to be planted by man is in Sri Lanka. Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura has been tended continuously for over 2,000 years. It was grown from a cutting brought from Bodh Gaya in India, the tree under which Buddha is said to have found enlightenment. The world’s first female prime minister was Si Lankan. In 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the sixth Prime Minister of Ceylon and the world’s first female prime minister. One of the earliest exports from Sri Lanka was coffee which thrived in the higher elevations. In the 1870s a disease wiped out entire coffee plantations, forcing the owners to switch to growing tea, for which they became well known worldwide. The beautiful city of Trincomalee, the capital of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, has had to endure some trials in the past few years. The Civil War and a devastating tsunami caused some damage, but it is bouncing back and the tourist trade is returning. The scenic seafront and the historic colonial buildings are still there, waiting. One good rule when visiting Sri Lanka is “Respect the Buddha”. Tourists have been convicted for taking pictures which disrespected the Buddha and for displaying a tattoo of the Buddha. Some tourists have been deported and a few have now been refused entry to the country for their disrespectful behavior. The Official Sri Lankan national sport is volleyball, which was introduced there in 1916. This is true, even though soccer and cricket are more popular among the citizenry. One of the more racy facts about Sri Lanka is that the county searches Google for the word ‘sex’ more than any other country in the world. Because of its unique shape and position to the south of India, Sri Lanka is known as the ‘Teardrop of India’. Sri Lanka had some unexpected neighbors in the past. 300 million years ago, when the mega-continent Pangea connected all of the current continents, Sri Lanka was actually joined to Antarctica. Based on the earliest remains found on the island, Sri Lanka has had a human presence for at least 35,000 years. The currency is the Sri Lankan rupee. Sri Lanka is a very affordable country to travel in and you can easily spend less than $50USD per day. The official languages of Sri Lanka are Sinhalese and Tamil. You will see most sign postages in these two languages along with English as it is spoke widely in the country. The Sri Lankan flag has a golden lion on it and is very colourful. The flag is one of the oldest in the world. The sword the lion is holding was added in 1948 when they achieved independence. Sri Lanka has over 100 waterfalls across the country. The largest is Bambarakande Falls which is near Colombo at 363 metres tall. There are beautiful waterfalls that can be found near Nuwara, World’s End and Kandy.also read: Amazing Facts: Crazy Things about China