CEYLON Ceylon has an area of 25,000 square miles. Plains extend across the north of the island and along the coast, but the centre and south are occupied by a great mountainous plateau which rises in Adam's Peak in the south-west to a height of over 7,000 feet. The climate of the lowlands is tropical, and Colombo has a mean annual tempera ture of about 80° F., but on the uplands sub-tropical and even warm temperate conditions prevail. Ceylon lies in the path of both monsoons, but the heaviest rainfall takes place on the south west slopes of the plateau, parts of which have a mean annual precipitation between 150 and 200 inches.
The principal food grain cultivated by the natives is rice, but the agricultural wealth of the island is mainly derived from plantations under European control. Coffee was at one time the chief export of the country, but the plants were attacked by disease and the industry practically disappeared. Its place has been taken by tea, which is grown on the mountain slopes of the south-west, where, above an elevation of 2,500 feet, it forms practically the only crop.
As in India, the leaf is prepared by modern methods and the total production now amounts to about 184,000,000 lbs. annually.) The
cultivation of rubber has spread rapidly within recent years ; in 1890 there were only 300 acres of it in the country, but it is estimated that there are now over 200,000 acres. The plantations, which consist mainly of Hevea brasiliensis, lie on the lower slopes of the hills in the south-west, where the rainfall is great and the tempera ture high. The output, which in 1911 was about 2,500 tons, will probably increase rapidly for some years to come, as the more recently planted trees reach an age at which they can be tapped. The coconut palm is grown mainly on the hot and humid plains in the west and south, and the various articles derived from it— copra, oil, fibre, etc.—when taken together, come next in value to tea among the exports of the island. The only mineral worked to any extent is graphite or plumbago. In quality it is superior to that found elsewhere, and Ceylon's output amounts in value to four-fifths that of the world's production.
Colombo is the chief port, and an important place of call for steamers.