 In addition to influences on language, the Portuguese introduced the Catholic religion to Sri Lanka, (but many evidence shows that Christianity was in Sri Lanka even before the influences of Portuguese) various forms of western clothing and also contributed to the formation of Baila, a Sri Lankan form of music.The words pertaining to the fields of commerce, administration, botany, food and military are the most numerous; this is to be expected because of many new innovations and goods that reached Sri Lanka via the Portuguese.However it is important to note that the range of borrowings goes beyond the scope to be expected for a situation where two neighbouring peoples exchange material goods