ABSTRACT
Sri Lanka is an island off the south-eastern coast of India, situated 880km north of the equator, in the Indian Ocean, with a land area of 65,525km2 (see Figure 12.1). Sri Lanka is a free, independent and sovereign nation with a population of 20.9 million (estimated). Its population comprises a number of ethnic groups, including Sinhalese (74 per cent); Tamils (18 per cent); and Moors, Malays, Burgers and others (8 per cent). The Sri Lankan economy is largely an agricultural one and rice is the main crop in which the country is self-sufficient. Traditionally, tea, rubber and coconut have been the main exports, even though they have been replaced, in recent years, by foreign exchange earnings from remittances from Sri Lankans employed abroad, tourism and other exports such as ready-made garments.
