Balangoda
| Balangoda | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 6 ° 39 ′ N , 80 ° 41 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Sri Lanka | ||
| Sabaragamuwa | |||
| District | Ratnapura | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | LK-91 | ||
| surface | 272.1 km² | ||
Balangoda ( Tamil : பலங்கொடா , Sinhala : බලංගොඩ ) is next to the capital Ratnapura the only major city in the district of Ratnapura in the province of Sabaragamuwa on Sri Lanka .
Geography and geology
Balangoda is about 40 km east of Ratnapura and can be reached via Highway A4. About 11 km further northeast is the Samanalawewa Dam on the Walawe River , which flows through the administrative area from northwest to southeast. The size of the Balangoda administrative district is 272.1 km 2 .
The bedrock below Balangoda consists of Charnockite . The whole district around Ratnapura and also Balangoda is a well-known site for some valuable gemstones such as the beryl varieties goshenite and aquamarine , the chrysoberyl variety alexandrite , the corundum varieties ruby and sapphire , various minerals of the garnet group , spinel , topaz and zircon . Furthermore, there were also baddeleyite , Geikielith , gold , graphite , ilmenite , pyrite , sillimanite and Sinhalit be detected. Balangoda is also a type locality for the mineral thorianite .
Web links
- Homepage of the administration of Balangoda
- mindat.org - Balangoda (overview of all mineral finds of this place so far)