Waterfalls are a rich natural asset in any country. They are beautiful to look at and admired. Some, like the Niagara Falls are world famous and offer breathtaking views.
The Niagara is made up of two waterfalls in West New York, USA on one side and South Ontario in Canada on the other, lying between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, on the international border. American Falls are 55.5metres/182 feet high and 328m/1076 ft wide. Canadian Falls, known as Horseshoe Falls are 54m/177 ft high, 640 m/2100 ft wide. It has been a popular tourist attraction since the early 19th century.
Angel (upper fall) in Venezuela is considered the highest waterfall in the world. Its height is recorded as 975m/3212 ft. Among the ten highest waterfalls in the world, five are in Norway, two in South Africa, and one each in Zimbabwe and USA.
Sri Lanka, in comparison to its size, has perhaps the largest number of waterfalls of any country in the world. Indeed, there are nearly 400 in Sri Lanka. A recent study undertaken by the Lanka Council on Waterfalls (LCWF) – an organization set up to improve public awareness and understanding of water issues to promote the conservation and wise use of nature and natural resources – has recorded 382 waterfalls in Sri Lanka.
The waterfalls in Sri Lanka are well distributed and are not confined to the hill country. Even Colombo District has four waterfalls. Of course they are not very tall – two are just four metres each, another 10m and the fourth is 15m. Kurunegala District has just one – six metres tall. Gampaha and Hambantota districts have two each.
The largest number of waterfalls are in the Ratnapura district (109) followed by Nuwara Eliya (75) and Kegalle (40). Some of the waterfalls have very interesting stories attached to them, mainly folk tales and legends. The most beautiful waterfalls have been selected for stamps and there have been a number of issues featuring waterfalls.
Sunday Times
Lanka Council of Waterfalls (LCWF) host the web site at www.srilankanwaterfalls.net which lists down 382 waterfalls in Sri Lanka. The information on most of the waterfalls on this site is from the LCWF Waterfall Database.
In addition to the site the LCWF sells a CD which is supposed to contain all the information regarding to the 382 waterfalls. To know more about this CD, you may contact LCWF at
Lanka Council On Waterfalls (LCWF)
PO BOX 26,
434/3, Sri Jayawardenapura,
Sri Lanka.phone : +94 11-2873131 / 2872122 / fax : +94 11-2883187
email : lcwf2@sltnet.lk, lcwf@sri.lanka.net
0-09 m (87) 10-19 m (77) 20-29 m (46) 30-39 m (50) 40-49 m (24) 50-99 m (49) Ambalama (164) Ancient Anicuts (33) Articles (0) Asanaghara (8) Ashtapala Bodhi (5) Attraction Articles (3) Attractions (227) Beaches (9) Biosphere Reserves (3) Botanical Gardens (5) Bridges (34) Cave Art (6) Caving (7) Churches (17) Cities (9) Destinations (16) Dethis Pala Bodhi (16) Devalaya (42) Events (2) Flora and Fauna (76) Forts (50) Heritage (1657) Heritage Articles (30) Historic Events (5) History (7) Hot Springs (9) Hydro Heritage (93) Irrigation Articles (4) Islands (15) Kovils (25) Kuludage (11) Lighthouses (27) Memorials (53) Mile Posts (6) Mosques (3) Museums (8) National Parks (22) over 100 m (20) Pabbatha Vihara (11) Personalities (7) Pillar/Slab Inscriptions (41) Pre Historic Burial Sites (20) Prehistory (38) Prehistory Articles (2) RAMSAR sites (6) Ravana (12) Reservoirs (63) Rock Inscriptions (11) Ruins in Wilpattu (5) Ruins in Yala (25) Santuaries (7) Sluice Gates (14) Stone Bridges (18) Strict Nature Reserves (3) Sumaithangi (3) Survey Towers (15) Tampita Vihara (240) Tourist Attractions (201) Travel (3) View Points (18) Walawwa (13) War Memorials (26) Waterfalls (375) Wildlife Articles (24) Yathuru Pokuna (4)
Abhayagiri Monastery (20) Ampara District (192) Anuradhapura District (217) Badulla District (119) Batticaloa District (22) Colombo District (80) Galle District (64) Gampaha District (62) Hambantota District (122) India (1) Jaffna District (73) Kalutara District (51) Kandy District (205) Kegalle District (158) Kilinochchi District (13) Kingdom of Anuradhapura (85) Kingdom of Kandy (15) Kingdom of Kotte (9) Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (55) King Kavan Tissa (1) King Mahasen (1) King Walagamba (3) Kurunegala District (174) Maha Vihara (16) Mannar District (47) Mannar Island (10) Matale District (87) Matara District (47) Mihintale (22) Monaragala District (102) Mullaitivu District (26) Negombo (5) Nuwara Eliya District (117) Polonnaruwa District (121) Puttalam District (37) Ratnapura District (164) Trincomalee District (52) Vavuniya District (32) waterfalls in Sinharaja (3) z Delft 1 (5) z Jaffna 1 (20) z Jaffna 2 (24) z Jaffna 3 (13)