Puttalam
| Puttalam | |||
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| State : |
 Sri Lanka
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| Province : | Northwest Province | ||
| District : | Puttalam | ||
| Height: | 8 m | ||
| Residents: | 45,661 (2011) | ||
Puttalam ( Sinhala පුත්තලම) is a 45,000-inhabitant city on the west coast of Sri Lanka and the capital of the administrative district of the same name .
description
Puttalam lies on the banks of a brackish water lagoon called Puttalam Lagoon , over which the Kala Oya River flows into the Indian Ocean . From the Puttalam lagoon branches off the approximately 120 km long canal, which was created in the 18th century during the Dutch colonial period and runs along the west coast via Negombo to Colombo . The distance to the de facto capital Colombo by road is 140 km. There is also a railway connection there : Puttalam is the end point of the "Puttalam Line" that branches off near Colombo.
The village has existed since the 6th century BC. Mentioned when King Vijaya is said to have moored at the lagoon. Ibn Battūta stopped here in the 14th century . Nowadays, Puttalam, which is unusual for Sri Lanka, is dominated by Muslims : over 90 percent of the residents are Muslim . Another 7 percent of the population here and in the north-west province are Hindu “Negombo Tamils ”, while Buddhism , which is otherwise predominant in Sri Lanka , only plays a minor role here.
economy
The greatest economic importance in and around Puttalam are salt production , fishing , agriculture (including coconut cultivation) and power generation . On the opposite bank of the lagoon, the coal-fired power station “Lakvijaya Power Station” has been in operation since 2011 and there have been two wind farms north of Puttalam on the lagoon since 2010 . There is also a cement plant in operation in Puttalam .
Tourism is less pronounced here than on the south coast, for example, but it is becoming increasingly important: the nearby beach town of Kalpitiya is a popular place for boat tours with dolphin and whale watching. Another popular destination is the Wilpattu National Park north of Puttalam.
Street scene in Puttalam, 1984
A church in Puttalam
Great mosque
Wilpattu National Park
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