Gems of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was affectionately known as Ratna-Dweepa which means Gem Island.
Marco Polo wrote that the island had the best sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems in the world.
Ninety percent of the rocks of the island are of Precambrian age, 560 million to 2,400 million years ago.
Nearly all the gem formations in Sri Lanka are located in the central high-grade metamorphic terrain of the Highland Complex.
It has been estimated that nearly 25% of the total land area of Sri Lanka is potentially gem-bearing, making Sri Lanka one of the countries with the highest density of gem deposits compared to its landmass.
