SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF SRI LANKA

The Southern Province includes the three districts of Galle 9 155 Km from Colombo) Matara (160 Km from Colombo) and Hambanthota (240 Km from Colombo) Covering and area of 5543 sq Km inclusive of 46 Kilometer of large inland water bodies. this makes up to 8.45 percent of the total land area of Sri lanka.
Much of the Southern Province has natural boundaries. The Bentota Ganga and Kumbukkan Oya in the north separates it

from the western and Eastern Provinces respectively and the Indian ocen in the West, South and East. The Province o occupies a relatively narrow strip of approximately 215 Km's extending along the entire Southern coast. A small area in the north of Galle and Matara districts with its small villages and town rises to an elevation of approximately 1,200 feet above MSL and the rest of the Province is generally flat.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka is located in Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, South of India. Geographic coordinates are 7 00 N, 81 00 E. In Sri Lanka, total map of area is about 65,610 sq km and it divides 64,740 sq km for land and 870 sq km for water. When comapring the total area of Sri Lanka today, it is slightly larger than West Virginia in the United States. In Sri Lanka, there are no land boundaries and coastline is about 1,340km. The ancient map of Sri Lanka indicate on the left side and on the right side indicate present map of Sri Lanka. You can imagine that the difference between present Sri Lankan map and the past Sri Lankan map. The present Sri Lankan map is smaller than the Sri Lankan map in the past. The reason why because the land is getting smaller and smaller due to the coastal sea erosion. Tropical monsoon; Northeast monsoon(December to March); southwest monsoon(June to October) are very reliable to maintain the climate in Sri Lanka. The temperature fluctuates between 32*C in the lowlands and 21*C in the highlands. Sri Lankan terrain are mostly low, flat to rolling pain; mountains in south-center interior. The lowest point is Ocean 0 m and highest point is Pidurutalagala mountain 2,524 m. Ocasionally cyclones and tornadoes occured in some areas.

Precipitation is characterized by wide seasonal and regional variations. The monsoon season in the southwest is from May to November, at which time the rainfall is exceptionally heavy. In the northern dry zone the main precipitation of about 1016 mm (about 40 in) annually occurs during the monsoon season, which begins in the first week of November. Most crops in the dry zone, however, require irrigation. The hills and the lowlands of the southwestern section, which is known as the wet zone, normally have some rainfall throughout the year, but peaks occur in May and June and in October and November.

Natural resources in the country are limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay, and hydropower. Some of the natural resources gives foreign exchange to the country as three agricultural crops. The minaral deposits of the country are limited and we are saving minarels for the next generation while using them.

Southern Provincial Council