-  |
-
P e a r l o f t h e I n d i a n O c e a n
| . |
Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean is located to the south of the Indian sub-continent. It lies between 5 55� & 9 55� north of the equator & between the eastern longitudes 79 42� & 81 52�. The total land area is 65,610 km. (25.3 thousand sq. miles) and is astonishingly varied. A length of 445 km & breadth of 225.3 km encompasses beautiful tropical beaches, verdant vegetation, ancient monuments and a thousand delights to please all tastes. The relief features of the island consist of a mountainous mass somewhat south of centre, with heights exceeding 2,500 meters, surrounded by broad plains. Palm fringed beaches surround the island and the sea temperature rarely falls below 27 C.
| / |
January-April
May-August
September-December
Maximum
Minimum
Maximum
Minimum
Maximum
Minimum
Colombo
32C
25C
30C
24C
29C
22C
Kandy
32C
20C
29C
21C
28C
18C
Nuwara Eliya
23C
12C
18C
16C
18C
15C
Trincomalee
32C
26C
33C
25C
33C
32C
| ( |
In the lowland the climate is typically tropical with average temperatures of 27 C in Colombo. In the higher elevations it can be quite cool with going down to 16 C in Nuwara Eliya, at an altitude of 1,890 meters. Sri Lanka receives rainfall from two monsoons and from convectional precipitation.
The southwest monsoon brings rain mainly from May to July to the western, southern & central regions of the island, while the north-east monsoon rain occurs in the northern and eastern regions in December & January. Although seasonal rains can be heavy, bright, sunny, warm days are the rule and are common even during the height if the monsoon-climatically Sri Lanka has no off-season.
