ABSTRACT
Sri Lanka is an island nation situated at the Southern point of India, separated from the mainland by the shallow seas of the Gulf of Mannar. It is located between the latitudes of 5 ° 55N and 9 ° 51N and the longitudes of 79 ° 41E and 81 ° 53E. The island has a 1,585 km coastline and is 353 km from north to south and 183 km at its widest point, covering a land area of 65,610 Km2 (CCD, 1997).
