Polonnaruwa (District)

District Polonnaruwa ; පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්රික්කය ; பொலநறுவை மாவட்டம்
Province :	North Central Province
Administrative headquarters :	Polonnaruwa
Area :	3,239 km²
of which land area:	3,077 km²
of which inland waters:	215 km²
Residents :	406088
Population density :	132 people / km²

7.942222 81Coordinates: 7 ° 57 ' N , 81 ° 0' E

The Polonnaruwa District ( Sinhala : පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්රික්කය , Tamil : மாவட்டம் பொலநறுவை ) is a district in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka . The main town is Polonnaruwa .

geography

The Polonnaruwa District is located in the northern interior of Sri Lanka and belongs to the north-central province . It has an area of 3,239 square kilometers (of which 3,077 square kilometers are land and 216 square kilometers inland water). This makes it the fifth largest district in Sri Lanka in terms of area.

Neighboring districts are Anuradhapura in the northwest, Trincomalee in the northeast, Batticaloa in the east, Ampara in the southeast and Matale in the southwest.

history

The district is one of the new foundations after the Second World War. It was created in 1958 from parts of the previous Anuradhapura district .

population

According to the 2012 census, the Polonnaruwa district has 406,088 inhabitants. With 131 inhabitants per square kilometer, the population density is well below the Sri Lankan average (325 inhabitants per square kilometer). Of the residents, 200,780 (49.44%) were male and 205,308 (50.56%) were female. The population is very young. This is illustrated by a look at the age distribution.

Age	0–9 years	10–19 years	20-29 years	30–39 years	40-49 years	50–59 years	60–79 years	80 years and more
number	74,375	63,743	62,497	65,180	55,060	45.296	36,598	3,339
proportion of	18.31%	15.70%	15.39%	16.05%	13.56%	11.15%	9.01%	0.82%

District population by ethnic group

Sinhalese

More than 90% of the residents belong to the Sinhalese ethnic group . Almost only members of their ethnic group live in the Dimbulagala, Elahera, Hingurakgoda and Medirigiriya divisions. They are also clearly in the majority in the remaining three divisions. The Sinhala population ranges from 71.46% in Lankapura to 99.84% in Elahera.

Moors

The second largest ethnic group and thus the largest minority are the Moors or Tamil-speaking Muslims. They form strong population groups in the divisions Lankapura (28.40% Moors), Thamankaduwa (15.82%) and Welikanda (14.54%). There are few members of their ethnic group in the Dimbulagala and Elahera divisions. Their share ranges between 0.02% in Elahera and 28.40% in Lankapura.

Sri Lankan Tamils

The Sri Lankan Tamils are the third largest ethnic group. They are particularly well represented in the Welikanda (10.89% Sri Lankan Tamils) and Dimbulagala (3.04%) divisions. There are almost no Sri Lankan Tamils in the three divisions of Elahera, Lankapura and Medirigiriya. Their share ranges between 0.04% in Medirigiriya and 10.89% in Welikanda.

Other ethnic groups

The Indian-born Tamils, Malays and Burghers, Sri Lankan Chetties and Bharathas are small minorities. They live scattered across all divisions of the district.

year	Sinhalese ¹		Sri Lankan Tamils ²		Tamils ²		Moors ³		Burgher		Malays		Others ⁴		Total
year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1981	238.965	91.36%	5,267	2.01%	124	0.05%	16,636	6.36%	59	0.02%	109	0.04%	403	0.15%	261,563	100.00%
2001	324.403	90.37%	7,034	1.96%	194	0.05%	27,075	7.54%	62	0.02%	48	0.01%	168	0.05%	358.984	100.00%
2012	368.197	90.67%	7,301	1.80%	161	0.04%	30,177	7.43%	88	0.02%	46	0.01%	118	0.03%	406.088	100.00%
Source: Sri Lanka censuses in 1981, 2001 and 2012

¹ lowland and Kandy Sinhalese together ² Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils separately ³ only Sri Lankan moors ⁴ thereof in 2001 65 Sri Lanka Chetties and 1 Bharatha and 2012 3 Sri Lanka Chetties and 5 Bharathas

Population of the district by confession

A Buddhist monk in Polonnaruwa

The distribution of creeds is a reflection of ethnic relationships. Almost all Sinhala residents of Polonnaruwa are Buddhist . The Islam , which includes the Moors and Malays, is the second largest religious group. Hinduism follows in third place , to which the majority of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils belong. The only exception is Christianity , to which, in addition to the Burghern, a small minority of the Sinhalese and Tamils belong.

year	Buddhists		Hindus		Muslims		Catholics		other Christs		Other		Total
year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1981	235,758	90.13%	4,781	1.83%	17,090	6.53%	3,471	1.33%	351	0.13%	112	0.04%	261,563	100.00%
2001	320.489	89.28%	6,592	1.84%	27,225	7.58%	3,883	1.08%	691	0.19%	104	0.03%	358.984	100.00%
2012	364.229	89.69%	6,886	1.70%	30,465	7.50%	3,192	0.79%	1,276	0.31%	40	0.01%	406.088	100.00%
Source: Sri Lanka censuses in 1981, 2001 and 2012

Population development

The population of the Polonnaruwa district has been growing faster than the Sri Lankan average since the turn of the millennium. In the period from 2001 to 2012 (the last two census years) the increase was 47,104 people. This is a growth of 13.12%. Since the start of independence, the population has increased by 256%.

Significant places

The only big place is Polonnaruwa .

Local administration

The head of the district holds the title of District Secretary. The district is further divided into seven divisions (under a Division Secretary). The cities and larger towns have their own administration (municipal parliament or council). There are 295 village administrations (Grama Niladharis) for the 637 villages in the entire district.

The DS Divisions in Polonnaruwa District
Surname	main place	Residents 2012	Area in km²	density	GN	Villages
Dimbulagala	Manampitiya	79,661	534	149	56	78
Elahera	Bakamuna	43,915	349	63	28	87
Hingurakgoda	Hingurakgoda	64,289	696	92	53	140
Lankapura	Thalpatha	36,452	184	198	28	49
Medirigiriya	Medirigiriya	65,575	537	122	45	111
Thamankaduwa	Thamankaduwa New Town	82,426	445	185	55	126
Welikanda	Welikanda	33,770	548	62	30th	46
Polonnaruwa District	Polonnaruwa	406.088	3,077	132	295	637