Capital | Colombo |
Area | 65 610 km² |
Population | about 20 million people |
Official language | Sinhala and Tamil, but almost all the population speaks English |
Currency | Sri Lankan rupee |
Climate | summer +28°C winter +25°C |
Recommended type of holiday | sightseeing (Royal Botanical GardensPinnawela, Anuradhapura) beach vacation |
About country
A teardrop-shaped island cast adrift in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is filled with cultural and natural treasures. Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left their marks here, making for a delightful mix of ancient cities, monuments and atmospheric colonial architecture.
At the same time, palm-fringed beaches are never far away and mountainous greenery beckons inland. It's clear to see why Marco Polo proclaimed Sri Lanka to be one of the best islands in the world.
Whether it’s a trail elephant crossing the highway, a literary festival in Galle, leopard sighting in Yala National Park, tasting an exceptional cup of tea at a plantation, stumbling upon vast ancient ruins in the middle of the jungle or discovering a deserted beach, Sri Lanka is a series of unexpected delights.
Sri Lanka has known its fair share of political turmoil and natural disasters in recent decades; however the country is finally finding political stability once again - marked by the Foreign Commonwealth Office removing travel restrictions across the entire country in mid 2010.
From its lush mountainous regions, to its perfect beaches, from its incomparable wildlife population to its peerless historical monuments, Sri Lanka is again becoming a holidaymakers’ favourite destination.
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Capital | Riyadh |
Area | 2 218 000 km² |
Population | 21 137 000 people |
Official language | Arabic |
Currency | Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) |
Climate | summer +50°C in winter from +35°C to +35° |
Recommended type of holiday | sightseeing (Timna) beach vacation (Jeddah) |
About country
No other country in the world is as misunderstood as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and perhaps no other country – rich with culture, heritage, and natural beauty – is as worthy of a first visit. It is more than a harsh desert (though the sands it does boast include the Empty Quarter, a beautiful expanse of undulating dunes unlike anywhere in the world), it is a country with many areas of beautiful oases and dramatic mountain-tops, beaches and rivers.
There are also the untamed stretches of Red Sea coast in the west of the country, southwestern mountain towns such as Taif, plus the ancient history in the north, where the town of Al Ula serves as the gateway to Medain Saleh, a collection of stone dwellings as magnificent as Petra.
Then there are the cosmopolitan city centres of Jeddah, the Red Sea port; Riyadh, the throbbing central capital; and Gulf-side Dammam, the large city in the east. All feature chic cafés and top-notch restaurants. There are shops galore, from traditional souks to glittering malls with all the latest fashions. Hotels are being built at a rapid clip, and each seems to feature a chef of ever-increasing pedigree.
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