Central Province මධ්යම පළාත மத்திய மாகாணம் | |
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![]() Kandy (capital city of the province) | |
![]() Location within Sri Lanka | |
Coordinates: 7°20′N80°45′E / 7.333°N 80.750°E Coordinates: 7°20′N80°45′E / 7.333°N 80.750°E | |
Country | Sri Lanka |
Created | 1833 |
Admitted | 14 November 1987 |
Capital | Kandy |
Largest City | Kandy |
Districts | List |
Government | |
• Type | Provincial council |
• Body | Central Provincial Council |
• Governor | Lalith U Gamage |
Area | |
• Total | 5,674 km2 (2,191 sq mi) |
Area rank | 6th (8.63% of total area) |
Population (2011 census) | |
• Total | 2,558,716 |
• Rank | 2nd (12.97% of total pop.) |
• Density | 450/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
Gross Regional Product (2010) [1] | |
• Total | Rs 465 billion |
• Rank | 4th (9.6% of total) |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka) |
ISO 3166 code | LK-2 |
Vehicle registration | CP |
Official languages | Sinhalese, Tamil |
Flower | ![]() |
Website | www |
The Central Province (Sinhala : මධ්යම පළාතMadhyama Paḷāta, Tamil : மத்திய மாகாணம்Madhdhiya Mākāṇam) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. (The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. [3] [4] ) The Central Province is primarily in the central mountainous terrain of Sri Lanka. It is the 6th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people. It is bordered by North Central Province to the north, Uva Province to the east, North Western Province to the west and Sabaragamuwa Province to the south and west. The province's capital is Kandy.
The cities of Matale and Nuwara Eliya are in the Central Province. The province is famous for its production of Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. The Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Gampola, Hatton and Nuwara Eliya.
Though three successive European powers invaded Sri Lanka during the 16th to the 19th century, the Central Province maintained its independence until the early 19th century when the British conquered Kandy. The British then established a colonial headman ranking system in 1824, which came into effect in 1832.
The Mudaliyar Office was abolished in 1924 and the last of the colonial headman retired from their positions and gave up the rule to the British officers in 1926. All headman positions were then passed down to the newly elected governor-general of Central Province. This was established in 1929 as a way for the British to directly rule the provinces.
The historic Matale city, Temple of the Tooth, Dambulla cave temple, Aluwihare temple and the Sigiriya rock are in the Central Province.
The province has an area of 5,674 km2 and a population of 2,421,148. Major towns include Kandy (119,186), Matale (39,869), Dambulla (75,290), Gampola (26,481), Nuwara Eliya (27,449) and Hatton (16,790).
Knuckles Mountain Range, Adam's Peak and Horton Plains are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Central Province.
The climate is cool, and many areas above 1,500 metres often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places have almost 7,000 mm of rain per year. The eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from North-Eastern monsoon. The temperatures range from 24 °C at Kandy to just 16 °C in Nuwara Eliya, which is 1,889 m above sea level. The highest mountains in Sri Lanka are in the Central Province. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main mountain regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy.
The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil and the Moors. Many tea plantation workers are Indian Tamils, brought over to Sri Lanka by the British in the 19th century.
Ethnic group | Population | % |
---|---|---|
Sinhalese | 1,584,100 | 65.35% |
Indian Tamils | 482,945 | 19.92% |
Sri Lankan Moors | 223,076 | 9.2% |
Sri Lankan Tamils | 122,438 | 5.05% |
Burghers | 3,589 | 0.15% |
Others | 7,818 | 0.32% |
Total | 2,423,966 | 100.00% |
Central Province is divided into three districts and 36 divisional secretariats.
district | Capital | Area (km2) | Population |
---|---|---|---|
Kandy District | Kandy | 1,940 | 1,279,028 |
Matale District | Matale | 1,993 | 441,328 |
Nuwara Eliya District | Nuwara Eliya | 1,741 | 703,610 |
The districts of the Sri Lanka are divided into administrative sub-units known as divisional secretariats. These were originally based on the feudal counties, the korales and ratas. They were formerly known as 'D.R.O. Divisions' after the 'Divisional Revenue Officer'. Later the D.R.O.s became 'Assistant Government Agents' and the Divisions were known as 'A.G.A. Divisions'. Currently, the divisions are administered by a 'Divisional Secretary' and are known as a 'D.S. Divisions'.
There are 36 divisional secretariats in Central Province, which are listed below, by district. There are 20 in Kandy District, 11 in Matale District and 5 in Nuwara Eliya District.
Rank | District | Pop. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Kandy ![]() Matale | 1 | Kandy | Kandy | 125,182 | ![]() Gampola ![]() Nuwara Eliya | ||||
2 | Matale | Matale | 48,225 | ||||||
3 | Gampola | Kandy | 37,871 | ||||||
4 | Nuwara Eliya | Nuwara Eliya | 35,081 | ||||||
5 | Dambulla | Matale | 26,000 | ||||||
6 | Hatton | Nuwara Eliya | 14,585 | ||||||
7 | Nawalapitiya | Kandy | 13,338 | ||||||
8 | Kadugannawa | kandy | 12,654 | ||||||
9 | Wattegama | Kandy | 8,157 | ||||||
10 | Talawakele | Nuwara Eliya | 4,691 |
Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and is also the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation.
Dambulla is a town situated in the north of Matale District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is the second largest populated and urbanised centre after Matale in the Matale District. It is situated 148 km (92 mi) north-east of Colombo, 43 km (27 mi) north of Matale and 72 km (45 mi) north of Kandy. Due to its location at a major junction, it is the centre of major vegetable distribution in the country.
Hatton is a major town in the Nuwara Eliya District of Central Province, Sri Lanka governed by the Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council. Hatton is a major centre of the Sri Lankan tea industry.
Uva Province is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla and Moneragala. The provincial capital is Badulla. Uva is bordered by the Eastern, Southern, Sabaragamuwa, and Central provinces. Its major tourist attractions are Dunhinda falls, Diyaluma Falls, Rawana Falls, the Yala National Park and Gal Oya National Park. The Gal Oya hills and the Central mountains are the main uplands, while the Mahaweli and Menik rivers and the huge Senanayake Samudraya and Maduru Oya Reservoirs are the major waterways.
Badulla is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.
The Sri Lanka Scout Association, is a Scouting organization in Sri Lanka operated by the Ceylon Scout Council. The Ceylon Scout Council is a corporation formed by Act No 13 of 1957. The association became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1953. The coeducational Sri Lanka Scout Association has 33,709 members as of 2014. in 2016 the year that the National Organisation reached 104 years the Scouting Population in Sri Lanka had increased to 55,078 the growth taking place against the year 2015 was 29% which was a great achievement by the SLSA.
Kandy District is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1906.3 km².
Matale District is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The administrative capital and largest city of the district is Matale.
Nuwara Eliya District is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka, centered on the tourist city of Nuwara Eliya.
Badulla District is a district in Uva Province, Sri Lanka. The entire land area of the Badulla district is 2,861 km2 (1,105 sq mi) and has a total population of 837,000. The district is bounded by the districts of Monaragala and Rathnapura on the east and south, by Ampara and Kandy districts to the north and by Nuwara Eliya and Matale to the west. Mainly the economy of the district is based on agricultural farming and livestock.
Pussellawa Sinhala: පුස්සැල්ලාව. Tamil: புசல்லாவ, is a l town in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It is located along the A5 road between Gampola and Nuwara Eliya.
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
There are 24 Municipal councils in Sri Lanka, which are the legislative bodies that preside over the largest cities and first tier municipalities in the country. Introduced in 1987 through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, municipal councils became a devolved subject under the Provincial Councils in the Local Government system of Sri Lanka. Until 2017 municipal councils collectively governed 2,765,533 people within a 698 square kilometer area. There were 445 Councillors in total, ranging from 53 to 9 per council.
The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial powers and functioned primarily equivalent to that of a Provincial governor. The office of Dissava was retained under the successive European colonial powers, namely the Portuguese Empire, the Dutch East India Company and the British Empire. A Dissava was the governor a province known as a Disavanies. With his province, the Dissava held both executive and judicial authority.
Talawakelle is a town in Nuwara Eliya District in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is the center of Dimbula tea planting district, the largest tea growing area in Sri Lanka. It is situated on A7 Colombo-Nuwara Eliya highway. The altitude of Talawakelle is 1,198 metres (3,930 ft). Talawakelle railway station is one of the major stops of Udarata or Main railway line. The town is administrated by Talawakelle-Lindula urban council.
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Walapane is a town located in Nuwara Eliya District of Sri Lanka. It is a high country area with many green mountains. It was called Wathtumulla in the past. The name Watumulla derived from the former tea factory which was located in the heart of the Walapane town and now demolished since the production of Wattumulla Plantation declined. Walapane is administrated by the government of *Sri Lanka through *Walapane Divisional Secretariat.
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