Agalawatte
Agalawatta is a town in Kalutara District of Sri Lanka, and is an electoral division. History Agalawatta is part of the ''Pasdun Rata'' ( si, පස්දුන් රට), which is also known as ''Pasdun Korale'' ( si, පස්දුන් කෝරලේ) (meaning: country/county of five ''yojanas''), created when King Parakramabahu the Great drained the Kalu Ganga basin. North of Agalawatta is the 'Fa Hien Cave', where evidence has been found dating back to 34,000 BC of Balangoda people, hunter gatherers. The Pasdun Rata was uninhabited except for hunter gatherers until the 12th century, being largely waterlogged. The town was originally known as ''Angalawatta'' (garden of one finger's length), and was historically not very important. The town of ''Pelenda'' nearby was the site of the capital of 'King' Veediya Bandara, who rebelled against the Portuguese in the 16th century. The town of Lathpandura was the demesne of the shrine of the God Saman. There is a legend that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anil Moonesinghe
Anil Moonesinghe (15 February 1927 – 8 December 2002) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade unionist. He became a member of parliament, a Cabinet Minister of Transport in 1964, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 1994 to 2000 and a diplomat. He has authored several books and edited newspapers and magazines. He was chairman and general manager of a State corporation. He briefly held the honorary rank of Colonel. Background and education Moonesinghe was born in Colombo Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), on 15 February 1927. A member of the family of Anagarika Dharmapala (who named him 'Anil Kumar'), he was brought up with Buddhist and Sinhalese nationalist values, as well as an abhorrence of the colonial power, Britain. He went to school at Royal College, Colombo, an elite institution which produced many radicals as well as civil servants and bourgeois politicians, where he won his colours in athletics. During the Second World War he organised a brigad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matugama
Mathugama ( si, මතුගම, ta, மத்துகம) is a semi urban town surrounded by mountains. It is an electorate of the Kalutara district, in Western Province, Sri Lanka. The town is located to the south of Colombo. Mathugama is part of the ''Pasdun Korale'' ( si, පස්දුන් කෝරලේ) (meaning: county of the five ''yojanas''), created when King Parakramabahu the Great drained the Kalu Ganga basin. In the days of the State Council it comprised the present-day Agalawatta, Bulathsinhala and Matugama constituencies. In 1946, it was divided into two, the eastern portion becoming Agalawatta (itself subdivided in 1960 by the creation of Bulathsinhala). Since 1989 it has been an electoral division of the Kalutara District, not a constituency sending a member to parliament in its own right. Members of State Council The constituency was represented in the State Council by: * D. D. Athulathmudali - 1931-1936 * C. W. W. Kannangara - 1936-1947 Mem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an origin with the German language, German word , the Dutch language, Dutch word , and the Old Norse . The original Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic word, *''tūnan'', is thought to be an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic language, Proto-Celtic *''dūnom'' (cf. Old Irish , Welsh language, Welsh ). The original sense of the word in both Germanic and Celtic was that of a fortress or an enclosure. Cognates of ''town'' in many modern Germanic languages designate a fence or a hedge. In English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed, and through which a track must run. In England, a town was a small community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portuguese Ceylon
Portuguese Ceylon ( pt, Ceilão Português, Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව ''Puruthugisi Lankawa'', Tamil: போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை ''Porthukeya Ilankai'') is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658. Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658. Their arrival was largely accidental, and the Portuguese sought control of commerce, rather than territory. The Portuguese were later drawn into the internal politics of the island with the political upheaval of the Wijayaba Kollaya, and used these internal divisions to their advantage during the Sinhalese–Portuguese War, first in an attempt to control the production of valuable cinnamon and later of the entire island. Direct Portuguese rule did not begin until after the death of Dharmapala of Kotte, who died without an heir, and had bequeathed the Kingdom of Kotte to the Portuguese m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boxing Day Tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It was an undersea megathrust earthquake that registered a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 , reaching a Mercalli intensity up to IX in certain areas. The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate. A series of massive tsunami waves grew up to high once heading inland, after being created by the underwater seismic activity offshore. Communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean were devastated, and the tsunamis killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The direct results caused major disruptions to living conditions and commerce in coastal provinces of surrounded countries, including ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bentota
Bentota is a coastal town in Sri Lanka, located in the Galle District of the Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Southern Province. It is approximately south of Colombo and north of Galle. Bentota is situated on the southern bank of the Bentota River mouth, at an elevation of above the sea level. The name of the town is derived from a mythical story which claims a demon named 'Bem' ruled the tota or river bank. Economy Bentota is a tourist attraction, with a local airport (Bentota River Airport) and a handful of world-class hotels. It is a destination for watersports. Bentota also delivers an ancient art of healing called Ayurveda. Bentota is famous for its Palm wine, toddy production, an alcoholic beverage made out of coconut nectar. It also has a turtle hatchery, located on Induruwa beach. History Bentota is a historical place described in ancient messenger poems (''Sandesa Kavya, sandeśa kāvya''). The Galapatha Viharaya is one of a cluster of five ancient temples in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rain Forest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to the rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the " world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation, the resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere. Definition Rainforest are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of leaf ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a forest reserve and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. 50% of Sri Lankan's endemics species of animals (especially butterfly, amphibians, birds, snakes and fish species). It is home to 95% endemic birds. The hilly virgin rainforest, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was saved from the worst of commercial logging by its inaccessibility, and was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988. Because of the dense vegetation, wildlife is not as easily seen as at dry-zone national parks such as Yala. There are about 3 elephants, and 15 or so leopards. The most common ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large scale (300 kton/year, in 1989) for uses in pencils, lubricants, and electrodes. Under high pressures and temperatures it converts to diamond. It is a weak conductor of heat and electricity. Types and varieties Natural graphite The principal types of natural graphite, each occurring in different types of ore deposits, are * Crystalline small flakes of graphite (or flake graphite) occurs as isolated, flat, plate-like particles with hexagonal edges if unbroken. When broken the edges can be irregular or angular; * Amorphous graphite: very fine flake graphite is sometimes called amorphous; * Lump graphite (or vein graphite) occurs in fissure veins or fractures and appears as massive platy intergrowths of fibrous or acicular cry ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colvin R
Colvin may refer to: * Colvin (surname) * Colvin family, the Anglo-Indian administrators and soldiers Places United States * Colvin Mountain, a ridge in Alabama * Colvin Township, Minnesota Colvin Township is a township in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 317 at the 2010 census. Vermilion Trail ( County 4) serves as a main route in the township. The unincorporated community of Markham is located wit ..., a township * Colvin Township, in Eddy County, North Dakota See also * * Calvin (other) {{disambiguation, geo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |