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Asia and Oceania
Sri Lanka |
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Country information
GEOGRAPHY
Sri Lanka is about half the size of England and lies close to the southern tip of India and near the equator. From the coast, the land rises to a central massif more than 1500 m above sea level. The climate is hot and humid - monsoon from May to September and the north-east monsoon from November to March: rainfall, particularly in the south-west, is heavy.Sri Lanka was severely affected by the tsunami on 26 December 2004, which killed some 40,000 people and displaced 400 – 500 thousand people along two thirds of the north-east, south and south-west coastline. Half the fishing fleet was destroyed, and a quarter of hotels in the affected areas sustained serious damage
Trade and Investment with the UK
The UK exported £122 million worth of goods to Sri Lanka in 2007. Gold products, sugar and paper accounted for over a quarter of this. The UK is the ninth largest exporter to Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka is the UK’s 88th largest export market. 2008 exports from Sri Lanka to the UK were worth around £652m and dominated by the textiles and apparel industry. In 2008, Sri Lanka welcomed around 80,000 tourists from the UK, the largest European contingent and second only to India globally. Tourist arrivals were down some 11% on average from 2007.
