Central Province
Description
The Central 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 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.
History
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.
Colonial head mudaliyars- Sir Christofel de-Silva (1824–1842)
- Don William Gunawardene De-Saram III (1842–1856)
- Sir Hendrick Ekanayake (1856–1860)
- Sir Alexander-James Divakara Mohotti (1860–1888)
- Don Agaris Divakara Mohotti (1888–1924)
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.
Geography
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).
Mountain ranges
Knuckles Mountain Range, Adam's Peak and Horton Plains are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Central Province.
