Sri Lanka - Edition 2004

Sri Lanka is a truly magical destination. With a total area of 65,600 km², it’s a little more than twice the size of Belgium. Sri Lanka’s deep jungle, scattered with the vestiges of ancient civilisations, will seduce lovers of archeology. The diversity of the landscapes - mountain slopes richly carpeted with tea plantations, wide reaches of savannah reminiscent of Africa, rice paddies, gardens of exotic spices and long beaches of luminous sand bordered with coconut palms - will enchant nature-lovers.

All these delights, and more, make Sri Lanka (once Ceylon) one of the most attractive destinations in Asia.

An 11-hour flight – 8,477 km - separate Paris from the capital city of Colombo.

A little history :
1948 – Declaration of Independance, and in 1972 Ceylon leaves the Commonwealth and becomes Sri Lanka.
A cradle of Buddhism, this small tropical island offers a rich and diversified history. Sri Lanka is many things – deep jungle terrain inhabited by elephants and leopards, awe-inspiring ruins which bear witness to the greatness of ancient civilisations, magnificent parks and gardens, vast agricultural domains.
In the centre of the island, the landscape is mountainous, and there you may discover the botanical gardens of the city of Kandy.
The culture and the history of Sri Lanka are embodied and preserved in the vestiges of Anuradhapura, the country’s ancient capital city, and in Mihintale or Polonnaruwa, whose temples are still considered today as holy places by Buddhists.
And for naturalists, Sri Lanka offers an exceptional collection of unique species.

The climate :
The great monsoon, or southwest monsoon, occurs between May and August on the Western coast, while the lesser, or northeast monsoon, affects the Eastern coast between November and January. Average temperatures in Colombo are 30°C in December, 31°C in March and 30°C in June - in other words, they remain pretty constant.

Population and languages :
The population is about 20 million inhabitants. This is divided between Singhalese, Tamils, Chinese, Moors and Europeans. English is spoken everywhere, as is Singhalese. Tamil is predominant in the North of the island, along with various other Oriental languages.