Geography of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka travel planner (NOT for East Coast):
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ideal weather for visiting Sri Lanka |
|
|
|
Good weather for visiting Sri Lanka |
|
|
|
Weather more variable but travel still possible,
and you can take advantage of the lowest holiday prices of the year! |
How hot and wet will we get?
Where is Sri Lanka and how big is it?
What does Sri Lanka look like?
How hot and
wet will we get? |
|
There are wide variations in climate, but they are
not seasonal. Like the rains, they are provided by the
mountains. The higher you go, the cooler it gets, so
you can pick your climate with your altitude. The average
daytime temperature during the high season (November
to April) is about 28°C in Colombo and in the coastal
regions of the south and southwest, the only respite
at these lower altitudes being the sea breezes. It gets
even hotter in the Ancient Cities' area, but without
the help of a cooling breeze. At Nuwara Eliya, in the
Hill Country, the weather is a permanent warm springtime,
averaging 16°C. Due to its altitude of about 1900m,
Nuwara Eliya gets decidedly cooler at night and has
even experienced an occasional light frost, which is
dreaded for the damage it does to the tea plants. Lower
down in the Hill Country, at Kandy (500m), a Mediterranean
summer reigns all year round, with average temperatures
of 20°C.
Sri Lanka experiences two monsoons every year, although
different regions of the island are affected. The southwest
monsoon (Yala) brings rain to the southwest coast
and the Hill Country from May to early July and again in September
and October, and the northeast
monsoon (Maha) can affect the whole country, but
particularly the north and east, from November to February.
Even during the monsoon season the weather rarely manifests
itself as long, dreary days of endless rain. Rather,
the rain comes in short, heavy bursts, followed by sunshine
and the temperature is consistently warm. The overcast
sky tempers the heat of the sun, but not the strength
of its rays, so it is still possible to get a good tan.
However, during this period the sea is often too rough
for swimming on the side of the island affected by the
monsoon wind.
The coastal regions have humidity levels above 70%
for most of the year. In the southwest it is rare for
levels to fall below 80%, which can be very uncomfortable.
However, sea breezes often bring some relief on the
coast itself.
Where is
Sri Lanka and how big is it? |
|
Sri Lanka (Sri, resplendent; Lanka, land) is a teardrop-shaped
island lying off the southern tip of India and surrounded
by the clear, warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Being
very close to the equator (6-10°N), there is very
little difference between the length of day and night,
consequently first light is around 06.00 and it is totally
dark by 19.00.
Sri Lanka is approximately 432km from north to south
and 224km from east to west. With a total land area
of 65,525sqkm, it is similar in size to Ireland or
the Benelux countries. Its 1600km of coastline is
lined with sandy beaches, coral reefs and lagoons, and
its interior reaches a height of 2524m at Mount Pidurutalagala
in the Hill Country, which is set back from the sea
by a coastal plain between 10km and 80km wide.
What does
Sri Lanka look like? |
|
The Coast
The coastline itself is made up of coconut palm fringed
sandy beaches, coral reefs and lagoons surrounded by
mangroves, which are particularly impressive where thousands
of birds stop off to look for food during their annual
migration. The south and southwest coasts are densely
populated with a string of fishing communities and seaside
resorts. In the southwest, one bathing beach gives way
to another in a quarter-circle around the island's edge,
from Chilaw on the central west coast to Tangalle in
the southern part of the south coast. Incredibly, the
sea temperature remains at 27°C all year round.
The south western section of Sri Lanka gets the most
rain, partly because rainfall is higher during the southwest
monsoon. The more hilly jungle region of the southwest
is today the home of coconut, rubber and cinnamon plantations,
while every available piece of flat ground in the lowlands
is taken up by rice paddies, where two harvests take
place every year.
The east coast is developing as a tourist destination
mainly around the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Arugam
Bay areas. Though the east coast is subject to the influence
of the northeast monsoon from November to February, conditions
are often suitable for ocean swimming by the beginning
of the year. The air is less humid, and though the coastal
beaches are lined with palms, the vegetation is not
as dense or lush as it is on the hot, humid west coast.
Population density is lower in the east, the region
is less modern and the roads leading to the area in
poor condition.
Dry Zone
Three-quarters of Sri Lanka is described as a 'dry
zone', which includes most of the north, east and
southeast, adjacent to the Hill Country and wet zone.
However, this area is far from desert-like and the term
simply indicates that rainfall in this area is not constant
and that there are fairly long rain-free periods.
This in turn influences the vegetation which ranges
form dense, extremely varied forest areas (jungle, monsoon
forest), in which some trees lose their leaves during
dry periods, to areas with sparse, low thorn scrub in
the especially dry regions (savannah scrub, acacia trees).
From the air, the dry zone appears to be studded with
a vast number of lakes of varying shapes and sizes.
However, almost all of these are man-made reservoirs,
or tanks, some of them thousands of years old, their
prime function is to irrigate the ubiquitous rice paddies.
Sri Lanka's driest regions are on the southeast and
northwest coasts (Yala and Wilpattu National Parks,
respectively), the island of Mannar, and the Jaffna
Peninsula.
Wet Zone
In the wet region, the low-lying land of the southwest,
not a patch of land lies uncultivated. Being so well
watered means that in this region of lush vegetation,
both food and commercial crops can be grown successfully
alongside each other. The smallest hollows are carpeted
with paddy fields; the sandy areas are planted with
coconut palms, and the hilly land with rubber and cacao
trees and pepper plants.
In addition to supporting intensive farming, this south
western quarter is densely populated, the entire region
scattered with village communities.
Hill Country
The Hill Country in the Central Highlands forms the
backbone of the island. Forming a bastion of moderately
high, rounded and forested peaks, the mountains of the
Hill Country benefit from high rainfall levels and cool
temperatures.
Land clearance campaigns implemented over the centuries
have changed the landscape irrevocably, with previously
forested areas on mountain slopes being given over to
paddy fields and other crops for food production. The
British introduced coffee and then tea plantations,
transforming whole sections of the wild heart of the
island into fields as straight as a die. More recently
and a matter of some concern has been the deforestation
of swathes of virgin forest, which has both eroded mountain
slopes and upset the microclimate. Forest cover in the
Hill Country has fallen from 44% of the land area to
only 24% between the early 1970s and 1990s. Unfortunately,
firewood still accounts for over half of all energy
needs on the island.
Since the 1930s, when the first hydroelectric plant
was opened, suitable areas of the Hill Country have
been developed for the production of hydroelectric power.
The massive Mahaweli Program, ostensibly a complex irrigation
system being developed to bring water to the northern
half of the island, also contributes to the national
grid, which generates 65% of the island's electricity
from hydroelectric power.
|
