Western Province (Sri Lanka)
Coordinates: 6 ° 56 ' N , 79 ° 51' E
Western Province බස්නාහිර පළාත (Basnāhira Paḷāta) மேல் மாகாணம் (Mēl Mākāṇam) |
|
---|---|
flag | |
Capital : | Colombo |
Area : | 3684 km² |
Residents : | 6,081,000 (2017) |
Population density : | 1624 inhabitants per km² |
The Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka on the west bank of the island state. It consists of the administrative districts of Colombo , Gampaha and Kalutara . The Western Province is the most densely populated part of Sri Lanka, as well as its administrative and economic center. In the western province are Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte , de jure capital of Sri Lanka and Colombo , de facto capital of Sri Lanka.
history
Parts of today's Western Province belonged to the pre-colonial Kingdom of Kotte. The province came under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. The three colonial powers divided the island into three administrative structures according to the ethnic groups Lowland-Sinhalese, Kandyan-Sinhalese and Tamil. The western province was part of the Sinhalese Netherlands administration. In 1833, following the recommendation of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the ethnically based administrative structures were dissolved and replaced by five geographical provinces.
References
- ↑ Lennox A. Mills: Ceylon Under British Rule (1795-1932) . Oxford University Press , London 1933, pp. 67-68.