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Location
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Country
Located in
Asia
Area
65,610 square kilometers
25,332 square miles
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An island in the Indian Ocean, Sri
Lanka is located in South Asia, off the southeast
coast of India. It is separated from India by the
Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mann ªr.
Its total area is 65,610 square kilometers (25,332
square miles), slightly larger than Lithuania.
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Topography
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An imposing mountainous mass lies in
the south central part of Sri Lanka, with the
highest point being the peak of Pidurutalagala at
2,524 meters (8,281 feet). Two plateaus —
Nuwara Eliya and the Horton Plains—stretch
across the upland area. These are major centers of
commercial tea plantations. North of the mountains,
and extending south, is the dry zone—an
arid and gently rolling plain.
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Major Rivers and Lakes
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Rivers and streams broken by rapids
are numerous in the mountainous south central region
of Sri Lanka. The Mahaweli Ganga is the longest
river, emptying into the Indian Ocean south of
Trincomalee. Other rivers are the Kelani, the mouth
of which is near Colombo; the Kalu, which reaches
the sea near Kalutara on the southwest coast; and
the Aruvi Aru, which flows northwest across the dry
zone to a point near Mannar.
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Climate
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Due to its location near the
Equator, Sri Lanka has an extremely hot and humid
climate. At the higher elevations, however, the
climate is cool, and in the dry zone the humidity is
relatively lower. The average annual temperature is
32°C (90°F) in the lowlands and 21°C (70°F) in the
higher mountainous regions.
Precipitation is determined by
seasonal and regional variations. The monsoon season
in the southwest lasts from May to November, during
which time the rainfall is exceptionally heavy. In
the northern dry zone, most of the precipitation —roughly
1,016 millimeters (about 40 inches)—annually
occurs during the monsoon season, which begins the
first week of November. Most crops in the dry zone
require irrigation nonetheless. The hills and
lowlands of the southwest section, known as the wet
zone, normally have some rainfall throughout the
year, but heavier precipitation occurs in May and
June and again in October and November.
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Environmental Issues
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Richly endowed with biodiversity,
Sri Lanka has a long tradition of natural resource
conservation. Nearly 12 percent (1992) of the land
is protected, although much wildlife habitat has
been lost and a number of species continue to be
threatened by poachers. There is coastal degradation
from mining activities and increased pollution from
the tourist trade, and freshwater resources are
being polluted by industrial waste and sewage
runoff. Some wet-zone forests have been removed for
timber export and replaced by commercial crop
plantations. Sri Lanka is a participant in several
international agreements on biodiversity, endangered
species, hazardous wastes, banning nuclear testing,
ozone-layer protection, and wetlands, among others.
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