Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a country that is located in Southern Asia. It is an island which is located south of India and it is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. The bodies of water that separate India and Sri Lanka are the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It is believed that there used to be a bridge connecting these two countries, but it was destroyed by a destructive storm.
The climate is warm and tropical, which makes it a good place to grow many types of agricultural products. Annually, the average temperature ranges from 28 to 31 degrees Celsius. The hottest time of the year is May and it is more rainy from December to March. The southwestern part has many mountains and there is a lot of rain there. However, the many other areas do not get much rain.
When this climate is compared to Canada's climate, there are similarities and differences because Canada's climate varies from area to area. For example, in the southern parts of Ontario, it is very snowy in the winter and it is very humid and in the summer. Also, in Canada, there are five regions which Canada's climate is based on, which are the West Coast, the Prairies, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, Atlantic Canada and the North. The climates of each of these regions differ from one another, ranging from very temperate climate in the West Coast to freezing winters in the North.
There is a wide variety of wildlife in Sri Lanka, which include mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. There are approximately 91 mammmal species, 171 reptile species, 106 amphibian species, 227 bird species and 82 freshwater fish species. There are various interesting species, such as the Sambhar, which is a kind of deer. Furthermore, there are various types of flowers and other plants, such as the Ruk Aththana, which is very common in Sri Lanka. The wildlife in Sri Lanka is very interesting, and it is fun to learn about.
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The president of Sri Lanka is Mahinda Rajapaksa (to the left). The population of this country is 21,283,913 as of 2010, which is about 62% of Canada's population. Canada's population is about 33,739,900 and it is impressive that this island nation has 62% of this population. The poulation growth rate is 0.934%, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In this vast population, there is mainly two groups of people, who are the Sinhalese and the Tamils. These are also the two prominently spoken languages in Sri Lanka. For many years, there was a civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese, but after 26 years of war, it came to an end in 2009. Did you know that Sri Lanka's literacy rate is about 90% and that the life expectancy is 75 years. The literacy rate for males is 92.3% and for females, it is 89.1%. The life expectancy for males is 72 years and it is 79 years for females. This is good for an island nation, that has been affected by war. The people of Sri Lanka are intelligent and the nation ranks 84th, according to the CIA World Factbook. |
The majority of people in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese and the prominent religion is Buddhism. However, there are other religions, such as Hindusim, Islam and Christianity. When this is compared to Canada, it is very different because Canada is very multicultural and there are many religions, like Juddaism, Sikhism and many others. Sri Lanka is a little diverse, whereas, Canada is very diversity.
Natural resources include limestone,graphite,mineral sands,gems,phosphates,clay and hydropower; whereas, Canada's resources include timber, wheat and oil. This shows that the natural resources are diiferent, so it would be smart to trade with them.
Sri Lanka has many industries, and they import to various countries.
Did you know that Sri Lanka has a rubber and tea industry, as well as a textile industry?
They trade with many big countries, such as the United States, India, China and the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, they do not trade with Canada, and their industries are a little bit in contrast.
When looking at agricultural products, Sri Lanka produces rice, sugarcane, grains, vegetables, fruit, tea, coconuts and more. In industries, they have industries in telecommunications, banking, tourism, information technology services and construction.
The flag of Sri Lanka consists of a golden lion, four leaves and a sword. The colours are yellow, red, orange and green. Did you know that the flag was made official on December 17, 1978? Each of the things on the flag have a meaning. The lion is called "Sinha" in Sinhalese which is the majority in Sri Lanka. The leaves on the corner are from the Buddhist religion and the sword means authority. Many say that the green represents Muslims and the orange is for the Hindus.
Throughout history, Sri Lanka has had many names, from various groups of people. The popular name is Ceylon. The name that the Romans called it was Taprobane and the Muslim traders called it Seredib. Later when the Portuguese ruled it, it was called Ceilao, which was changed to Ceylan by the Duth and then the British changed it to Ceylon.
The name was officially changed to 'Free,Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka' in 1972 and to 'Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka' in 1978.The origin of the name is Sanskrit, a language that is primary to Hinduism and Buddhuism. Sri means venerable (commanding respect because of great age or impressive dignity) and Lanka means island, which makes sense because it is an island.
You might think, why Sri Lanka, out of all the countries? Well, the answer for this is that this is a
country that is hardly known. However, it became more popular during the 26 year civil war. Near the end of
the war, there was many protests happening worldwide, which caused Sri Lanka to be more known.
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