Sri Lanka is a tropical island 270 km in length and 140 km wide located in the Indian Ocean close to the southern tip of India.

While most of the land is flat, the central part has mountains that reach to 2,524 metres. Sri Lanka has a population of 18.5 million of whom the majority are Singhalese while the other ethnic groups comprise of Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils, Moors, Malays, Burghers.

Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country, with Buddhists constituting the majority, while other religious groups such as Hindus, Muslims and Christians are also found. This variety of ethnic groups and religions has resulted in there being many colourful and spectacular festivals throughout the year, all of which offer fantastic photographic opportunities. Of these the annual Esala Kandy Perehera with more than a hundred decorated and illuminated elephants and many cultural dancers is the most impressive. Although densely populated, the island yet has almost 16 % of natural forest located pre In the coastal areas are beautiful beaches lined by palm trees that are replaced in parts of the southeast and northeast by thorny scrub forest.

These forests harbour Sri Lanka?s ?big five?, the elephant, the buffalo, the sambur, the bear and the leopard. The Sri Lankan leopard an endemic sub-species, is found throughout the island where there is suitable forest cover, but Yala national park in the south-east has probably the highest density of leopards in the world. Besides leopard the sloth bear, jackal, wild pig, spotted deer, and over 200 species of birds can be seen at Yala.

Minneriya national park is one of the finest places to view, study, and photograph wild elephants as nearly 400 elephants congregate there each year during the dry season from May to September. South-western Sri Lanka has the ancient Sinharaja rain forest that has a huge number of endemic species. More endemic species are found in the mountain cloud forests, located in many parts of the hill country. In Sri Lanka there are 33 species of endemic birds, frogs, reptiles, trees? making it arguably the best ?Hot Spot? among the world?s 26 Biodiversity Hot Spots.

Sri Lanka is essentially an agricultural country, the main crop of Sri Lanka is rice while tea, rubber and coconut are also important agricultural crops, and with tea being a major foreign exchange earner. Sri Lanka is also a major exporter of precious and semi-precious stones while recently tourism has emerged as a foreign exchange earner. Although many areas are cultivated, the countryside retains much of its natural beauty.

Some of the finest scenery is found in the central hills where more than 200 beautiful waterfalls can be seen. Horton Plains national park situated over 2000 metres above sea level has fantastic plains interspersed with mountain forest, in which leopard and sambur are found.

In ancient times, Sri Lanka had an advanced agriculture based civilisation. Spectacular remains of these 2000-year-old buildings, monuments, and temples are found at Anuradhapura and Polonaruwa.

With a diverse country-side, a variety of wildlife parks with many endemics, unspoilt beaches, ancient cities and a mixed culture, Sri Lanka, just 65,000 sq km in size, offers the serious landscape and wildlife photographer opportunities unmatched in the world today.

COURTESY :
WILDLIFE LANKA(PVT) LTD.
www.wildlifelanka.com

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