The Western Province 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. The province is the most densely populated province in the country and is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte as well to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center.
In Sri Lanka, provinces are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the 20th century the provinces had become merely ceremonial. This changed in 1987 when, following several decades of increasing demand for a decentralization, the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Currently there are nine provinces.
Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga was the fourth President of Sri Lanka from 1 May 1993 to 12 November 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993 and the Governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1989. He was awarded Sri Lanka's most highest award to a civilian Sri Lankabhimanya in 1993 by President Ranasinghe Premadasa
Theravada Buddhism is the State religion of Sri Lanka practiced by 70.2% of the Sri Lanka's population. Buddhism has been given special privileges in the constitution and also declared country's official religion by 2nd president of sri Lanka J.R Jayawardene. Sri Lanka is traditionally oldest religious Buddhist country where Buddhist aryan culture is protected and preserved. The island has been a center of Buddhist scholarship and learning since the introduction of Buddhism in the third century BCE producing eminent scholars such as Buddhaghosa and preserving the vast Pāli Canon. Throughout most of its history, Sri Lankan kings have played a major role in the maintenance and revival of the Buddhist institutions of the island. During the 19th century, a modern Buddhist revival took place on the island which promoted Buddhist education and learning. There are around 6,000 Buddhist monasteries on Sri Lanka with approximately 15,000 monks.
Mahinda Buddhadasa Samarasinghe, MP is a Sri Lankan politician and former diplomat. He is the current Minister of Ports & Shipping in President Maithripala Sirisena's Government, and Sri Lanka Freedom Party chief organiser for the Panadura Electorate in Kalutara District. Samarasinghe co-chairs the Permanent Standing Committee on Human Rights in Sri Lanka.
Akilan Manoharan Ganesan is a Sri Lankan trade unionist, politician and government minister. He is the leader of the Democratic People's Front (DPF) and Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), members of the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG).
Susil Moonesinghe was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and diplomat and former Chairman of State Trading Wholesale Company Ltd. A former Chief Minister of the Western Provincial Council and a member of parliament, he was a former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Iran. The brother of Anil Moonesinghe and the son of Piyadas Moonesinghe, he was educated at the Royal College, Colombo.
Arachchige Sarath Kumara Gunarathne is a Sri Lankan politician, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and a government minister. He is the Negombo MP from Gampaha district and is a long-standing member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Prior to his current appointment as the Deputy Minister of Fisheries, he has been appointed deputy minister for state resources, and as deputy minister of aviation. He is currently the acting minister of Fisheries and Aquatic resources following the defection of former Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne to the opposition.
Jeewan Kumaranatunga is a Sri Lankan film actor who later became a politician, a former member of the parliament and a former cabinet minister. He is a close relative of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the nephew of actor and politician Vijaya Kumaratunga.
Akila Viraj Kariyawasam is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He currently serves as Minister of Education of Sri Lanka who assumed the office on 13 January 2015. A lawyer by profession, Kariyawasam was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2004.
Hemakumara Wickramathilaka Nanayakkara is a Sri Lankan politician and was the 7th Governor of the Western Province of Sri Lanka, in office since 12 April 2018. He has also been a Governor of the Southern Province, a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and a former government minister. Nanayakkara played active roles for the United National Party victory at the 2001 General election. He was appointed as minister soon after the election. Later in 2007 he decided to support the UPFA. In 2012 Nanayakkara quit from the UPFA to form his own party called Ruhunu Janatha Party. The Party joined United National Party at the 2015 Presidential election to support the common candidate. Soon after the 2015 election victory he was appointed the Governor of Southern Province.
Muthu Sangaralingam Sellasamy is a Sri Lankan trade unionist, politician and former minister of state.
Dinendra Ruwan Wijewardene is a Sri Lankan politician, He is the current State Minister of Defence & Mass Media non-cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament for Gampaha District and the United National Party (UNP) chief organiser for Biyagama Electorate. Prior to entering parliament in 2010, he was a member of the Western Provincial Council.
Adawan Amal Praba Ganesan is a Sri Lankan politician and former Member of Parliament. He is the current leader of the Democratic People's Congress (DPC), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
Seyed Ahmed Seyed Alavi Moulana was a Sri Lankan politician, who entered politics in 1948 as a trade unionist. He was the 5th Governor of Western Province, having assumed office on 1 February 2002. He was a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Cabinet Minister of Labour, and a Councilor in the Colombo Municipal Council. He was the Senior Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was also a social and religious worker. He also served as acting Governor for Sabaragamuwa in 2009.
Prasanna Ranatunga is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Western Province, Sri Lanka. He belongs to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and part of the United People's Freedom Alliance. He is the brother of former Sri Lanka cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranatunga entered parliament in 2015 from Gampaha District as an opposition member.Prasanna Ranatunga received a vote count of 384,448 in the 2015 Parliamentary elections
Reginald Cooray is a Sri Lankan teacher and politician. He is a former provincial chief minister and a former government minister. He is the 5th and current Governor of the Northern Province, and was briefly the Governor of the Central Province in April 2018, his tenure lasting for less than 24 hours, making it the shortest of any Governorship in Sri Lankan history.
Deshamanya Montague Jayawickrama was the second Governor of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. He was elected in 1977 from Weligama in Matara to the Sri Lankan Parliament and was the Minister of Public Administration & Home Affairs in the Jayewardene cabinet.
Ramaiah Yogarajan is a Sri Lankan engineer, politician and former Member of Parliament.
