Sri Lanka lays claim to an exclusive economic zone in the surrounding maritime waters, extending 200 nautical miles - about 6.7 times the country’s land area.
The island is surrounded by numerous coral reefs. The coast has 40 lagoons and 45 estuaries (a coastal basin, into which a river flows, having an open connection with the open sea).
Extending over 7,000 hectares, the island’s mangrove ecosystem played a huge role in dampening the force of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
