Colombo stands to the south of the mouth of the river Kelani.
The Kotahena temple is the chief Buddhist temple in Colombo.
A service of the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamers has been established between Negapatam and Colombo through Palk Strait and this narrow passage.
In Ceylon the Religious and Theological Magazine was started at Colombo in 1833, the Colombo Magazine in 1839, the Ceylon Magazine in 1840, and the Investigator at Kandy in 1841.
To the north-east of the Fort is the Lake, a ramifying sheet of fresh water, which adds greatly to the beauty of the site of Colombo, its banks being clothed with luxuriant foliage and flowers.