Sri Lanka

Vehicles in Sri Lanka have long white front plates and short yellow rear plates.

In most Generation 3 coverage, you will be able to see the front of the Google car partially through the blur: it is visible as blue-white-red patches, reminiscent of the French flag. The red patch is usually most visually distinct.

NOTE: This car is unique to Sri Lanka. Coverage in Ghana has a similar front of the car visible, but this coverage also has a roof rack.

All Generation 4 coverage is low-cam. This means that the camera on the Google car is intentionally set up lower than in most other countries. This can be recognized in two ways:

• The car blur is significantly bigger. Generally, the bigger car blur is the most consistent way to recognize low-cam.

• Roads look wider and objects around you are seen from a lower angle.

Note that Sri Lanka’s Generation 3 coverage is made with a normal height camera!

NOTE: All coverage in Japan and Switzerland is low-cam. However, landscape should be sufficient to tell these apart from Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, you will see two scripts: Sinhala and Tamil. You will also sometimes see English, written in Latin script. 

Sinhala is most common, and can be found throughout the entire country. It has a very curvy, ‘rounded’ look.

Tamil is more regionally limited. It has straighter lines. For an exact distribution, see the region-guessing section.

NOTE: Sinhala is unique to Sri Lanka. However, Tamil can also be found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lanka typically uses concrete utility poles. Two pole types are common and distinctive:

• Square poles with small pinholes in the sides. These pinholes are limited to the top part of the pole.

• Poles with large see-through holes in the lower half of the pole (“holey poles“). These poles are unique to Sri Lanka.

NOTE: The square poles with small pinholes can look very similar to those found in Thailand. However, in Thailand the pinholes extend all the way to the bottom of the pole.

These short, wide stone bollards are unique to Sri Lanka. They have a tapered shape, with a black base and a white top.

Sri Lanka commonly uses black and white striped signposts.

NOTE: Within South and Southeast Asia, such signposts are also found in Bangladesh, India and Malaysia.

Rural roads often have outside lines, but no middle lines. In the absence of other clues, this can sometimes be a way to decide a tough 50-50.

NOTE: Most small roads lack road lines entirely.

Sri Lanka is a tropical country. It usually has very lush, green vegetation. It is densely populated and many parts are covered in a patchwork of agricultural fields.

Many parts of Sri Lanka have reddish soil. 

Less commonly, you may encounter white, sandy soil.

Palm trees are very common in Sri Lanka, more so than many other Asian countries.

NOTE: Palm trees are also very common in the Philippines.

Houses often have orange or red tiled roofs. Due to wear and tear, these tiles often have an almost brown tint to them.

NOTE: Similar roofs are also common in parts of Indonesia.

The country is majority Buddhist: 70% of the population practise this religion. Throughout the country, you will often see signs of the religion, including temples, Buddha statues, stupas and the Buddhist flag.

NOTE: Thailand, Cambodia and Laos are also majority Buddhist.

A substantial minority of the population adhere to other religions: Hinduism (13%), Islam (10%) and Christianity (7%). These religions have strong regional distribution patterns; see the region-guessing section for more information.

This style of tuktuk is common in Sri Lanka: it has a bulky shape and a black roof. They are usually coloured green, yellow or red, though other colours appear as well.

Google used a weird, low-quality camera in Sri Lanka. This camera is known as the official Ari (or “Shitcam”). It has a wide circular car blur and often somewhat brownish colours. A good map will not usually include this coverage, but it is good to be aware of its existence, in order to not be caught off-guard by it.

NOTE: Within Asia, India and Cambodia also have shitcam coverage.

Sri Lankan telephone numbers have 10 digits.

The first three digits of landline phone numbers are the area code. The first digit of that area code is always a 0, while the remaining two digits are shown on the map.

Mobile phone numbers always start with 07 and are not associated with any particular region.

You can click on the image to enlarge it. Image credit: Maccem.

These maps shows the distribution of each of Sri Lanka’s four main religions. This can help with region-guessing when you spot a house of worship or other symbol associated with one of the religions.

• Buddhism is found in most of the country but is mostly absent from the north and some parts of the east coast.

• Hinduism is predominantly found in the north and parts of the east, as well as around the town of Nuwara Eliya in the central mountains.

• Islam is strongest on the east coast, but not a majority in any district.

• Christianity is mostly confined to the northwest, and is strongest around the town of Mannar.

You can click on the image to enlarge it.

The presence of the Tamil script is strongly correlated with the distribution of Hinduism (though not all Tamils are Hindu and vice versa).

There are two groups that use the Tamil script:

• Native Sri Lankan Tamils, who predominantly live in the north and the east.

• Indian Tamils, who mostly live in and around the central Nuwara Eliya district.

Note that it is not uncommon to find bilingual Sinhala and Tamil signs far outside the area where Tamil is the predominant language. However, Tamil-only signage can be a strong indicator for one of the Tamil-majority areas.

You can click on the image to enlarge it.

This map shows Sri Lanka’s topography. Hills and mountains are strongly concentrated in the central-southern part of the country.

You can click on the image to enlarge it.

The southwest of Sri Lanka has a more wet climate that is characterised by lush, dense vegetation. Deep green tones dominate the landscape.

Conversely, the rest of the country has a slightly more dry climate. The vegetation is often lower and more open. The landscape usually has a mix of brown and green tones.

Note that the difference is not extreme, as the landscape in Sri Lanka never truly gets downright arid. However, with some practise, you can often learn to tell the difference. Your mileage may also vary depending on the season, local forest cover, or coverage type (Generation 3 often tends to make the landscape look more arid than it really is).

Tea plantations are found in the central and southwestern parts of the country. They are most common in the area just west of Nuwara Eliya.

Tea plants look like small, compact shrubs with bright green leaves. They are usually planted in organised rows or clusters on hillsides.

Horton Plains National Park has a very distinct and bait landscape, consisting of hilly plains covered in long grass. In the distance, you can see forests, but most of the park’s roads meander through a wide open landscape.