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| Info for Participants |
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Hotel Information |
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Mount
Lavinia Hotel (12 km from Colombo) is one of Sri Lanka's
finest hotels, combining imperial elegance with the comfort
and facilities of a fine modern resort. With its grand
colonial architecture, extensive beach frontage, fragrant
tropical gardens.
Click here to visit |
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Country Information |
| Location |
880
kms north of the equator, adjacent to the
Southern tip of India |
| Area |
65,610
sq Km |
| Population |
19.4(2000)
Million |
| Commercial Capital |
Colombo |
| Administrative Capital |
Sri
Jayawardenapura |
| Time Zone |
UTC
plus 6 hours |
| Principal Languages |
Sinhala,
Tamil, English is widely understood and spoken
throughout island |
| Principal religions |
Buddhism,
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam |
| Principal
ethnic groups |
Sinhalese,
Tamils, Muslims, Burghers(Eurasians), and
Malays |
| Education & Literacy |
Sri
Lanka,s Literacy rate stands at 90%, one of
the highest in the region. Education is divided
into Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary (University)
education. Sri Lankan students spend twelve
years in College, Which encompasses the Primary
and Secondary divisions. |
| Currency |
Sri
Lanka Rupee Denomination :Rs. 10/-, Rs.20/-,
Rs.50/-, Rs.100/-, Rs.200/-, Rs.500/-, Rs.1000/-.
One hundred cents make a Rupee. |
| Business
hours |
Sri
Lanka adopts a five day week from Monday through
Friday . Hours of Business are usually as
follows:
Government
offices : 9.00 am to 4.30 PM.
Private
Enterprises : 8.30 am to 5.00 PM.
Banks
: 9.00 am to 3.00 PM
Post
Offices : 8.30 am to 5.00 PM (The General
Post Office in Colombo Fort is Open 24 hours
a day) |
| Holidays |
Sri
Lanka has three categories of holiday. Public
Holidays, Mercantile Holidays and Bank Holidays.
Apart from the weekend holidays (Saturday
and Sunday), the Public and Mercantile holidays
above are linked to religious festivals of
the main ethnic groups and vary from year
to year. The Bank holidays are specific to
banks. |
| Hotels |
The
Hilton, Intercontinental, Oberoi, Taj, Holiday
Inn, Galadari and Trans Asia Hotel chains
have 5 star representation in Sri Lnaka. Other
high Quality accommodation is also available. |
| Telecommunications |
Telephone,
Fax, Cellular, Satellite, E-Mail and Internet
Services are Widely available in Colombo.
Typical line speed for data transmission averages
28.8K/ 64K ISDN lines. Celluar systems offer
AMPS, ETACS and GSM networks. |
| Electricity
Supply |
220
- 240 volts AC |
| Credit Cards |
VISA,
Mastercard, American Express, Diners are accepted
in the commercial centers |
| Banks |
Hong
Kong Bank, ANZ Grindlays, ABN Amro, Standard
Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Mashreq, Malaysia
Public Bank, American Express and Societe
Generale, among other international banks,
are represented in Sri Lanka. |
| Airports |
The
Bandaranaike International Airport is situated
in Katunayake, an hour,s drive from Colombo. |
| Airlines |
All
International Airlines are represented in
Sri Lanka. |
| Climate |
Sri
Lanka is a typically tropical country with
distinct dry and wet seasons, but the picture
is somewhat complicated by the fact that it
is subject to two monsoons: the Yala season
(May to August), when the south-west monsoon
brings rain to the southern, western and central
regions; and the Maha season (October to January),
when the north-east monsoon brings rain to
the north and east of the island. Temperatures
in the low-lying coastal regions are high
year round but they rapidly fall with altitude
and in the hill country, where it feels like
perpetual spring. The highest temperatures
are from March through June, while November
to January is usually the coolest time of
the year. Rainfall is heaviest in the south,
south west and central highlands; the northern
and north-central regions are very dry. The
best time to visit the west, south coast and
hill country is between December and March.
May to September is best on the east coast. |
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