Is an island in the Indian Ocean

Dishes[edit]

A Sri Lankan rice and curry dish.

Typical Sri Lankan dish of rice and prawns.

Sri Lankan cuisine centers around boiled or steamed rice served with a curry of fish, chicken, beef, pork, mutton or goat, along with other curries made with vegetables, lentils or fruit.

Dishes are accompanied by pickled fruit or vegetables, chutneys and sambals, especially coconut sambol, a paste of ground coconut mixed with chili peppers, dried Maldive fish and lime juice.

Pol Sambola

Kottu[edit]

Kottu is a spicy Sri Lankan stir-fry of shredded roti bread with vegetables, optionally with other ingredients such as egg, meat or cheese.

Hoppers[edit]

Hoppers

Hoppers (appa) are a range of dishes based on a fermented batter, usually of rice flour and coconut milk with spices, that is deep fried or steamed. The fermenting agent is palm toddy or yeast. Hopper variants can be either savoury, such as egg hoppers, milk hoppers, string hoppers, or sweet such as vandu appa and pani appa.^[1] Savoury hoppers are often accompanied by lunu miris, a mix of red onions and spices.

String Hoppers[edit]

String hoppers (idiyappa) are made from hot-water dough of rice meal or wheat flour. This is pressed out in circlets from a string mould onto little wicker mats, then steamed.

Lamprais[edit]

Lamprais is rice boiled in stock with a curry, accompanied by "frikkadels" (frikadeller meatballs), all of which is then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked in an oven. It is a Dutch-influenced Sri Lankan dish.

Kool[edit]

Kool is a seafood broth from Jaffna with crab, fish, cuttlefish, prawns and crayfish with long beans, jak seeds, manioc, spinach andtamarind. The dish is thickened with palmyra root flour.

Pittu[edit]

Pittu ^[2] are cylinders of steamed rice mixed with grated coconut.^[3]

Roti[edit]

Godhamba Roti is a simple Sri Lankan flatbread usually made from wheatflour. A variant is Pol Roti, in which shredded coconut is mixed into the dough.

Sweets[edit]

Kevum oil cake is made with rice flour and treacle and deep-fried to a golden brown. Moong Kevum is a variant where mung beanflour is made into a paste and shaped like diamonds before frying. Other types of Kevum are Athiraha, Konda Kevum, Athirasa & Handi Kevum. Many sweets are served with kiribath milk rice during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The history of Sri Lanka begins around 30,000 years ago when the island was first inhabited. Chronicles, including theMahawansa, the Dipavamsa, the Culavamsa and the Rajaveliya, record events^[1][2] from the beginnings of the Sinhalese monarchyin the 6th century BC, the Tamil Elara (monarch) in the 2nd century BC;^[3] through the arrival of European Colonialists in the 16th century; and to the disestablishment of the monarchy in 1815. Some mentions of the country are found in the Ramayana, theMahabharata and the Lankavatara Sutra Mahayana Buddhism texts of Gautama Buddha's teachings. Buddhism was introduced in the 3rd century BC by Arhath Mahinda (son of the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great).

From the 16th century, some coastal areas of the country were ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Sri Lanka was ruled by 181 Kings and Queens from the Anuradhapura to Kandy periods. ^[4] After 1815 the entire nation was under British colonial rule and armed uprisings against the British took place in the 1818 Uva Rebellion and the 1848 Matale Rebellion. Independence was finally granted in 1948 but the country remained a Dominion of the British Empire.

In 1972 Sri Lanka assumed the status of a Republic. A constitution was introduced in 1978 which made the Executive President the head of state. The Sri Lankan Civil War began in 1983, including an armed youth uprising in 1987–1989, with the 25 year-long civil war ending in 2009.

In the twelfth century, the explorer Marco Polo wrote that Sri Lanka was the finest island in the whole world. For centuries it had been a tourism destination, particularly for European travelers. Recently, the Sri Lankan Civil War that spanned over 25 years and ended in 2009 has had a negative impact on tourism and the growth of the industry stagnated, however following this era a resurgence in Sri Lanka as a tourist destination has been evident. In 2012, post office worldwide holiday costs barometer named Sri Lanka as the best valued destination for holidays.^[1] Value Proposition[edit]

The advantage of Sri Lanka as a tourism destination is threefold. Firstly it is an authentic tourism destination. Secondly it is a compact island of 65,610 sqkm where a tourist can travel the length and breadth of the country within a few days, thirdly the diversity of the tourism product is unparalleled.

However due to a number of policies of the Sri Lankan Government, international tourists that are not dual citizens of Sri Lanka or hold a Sri Lankan National Identity card are penalized when travelling to Sri Lanka - this includes but is not limited to artificially inflated prices for accommodation and tourist attractions that are in some cases an order of magnitude more expensive for tourists, indeed some attractions are free if proof of nationality is provided.

For the simplicity of communicating the diversity of Sri Lanka in 2010 the tourism authorities started positioning the country around 8 different products namely; beaches, heritage, wildlife, scenic beauty, mind and body wellness, festivals, sports and adventure and Essence. The Essence of Sri Lanka include what is unique to the country such as itspeople, art and culture, spices, tea, gems, handy crafts etc.