Balangoda is a town in

Ratnapura District Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, Tamil: இரத்தினபுரம் மாவட்டம்) is a district of Sri Lanka in the Sabaragamuwa Province. This gem-mining centre of Sri ...

Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but ...

, governed by an urban council located away from

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and from

Ratnapura Ratnapura (, ; , ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is loca ...

on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the

Sabaragamuwa Province The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but ...

. According to the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Balangoda has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 16,875 and area of . According to 2012 census data Balangoda DS Division's religious composition is as follows Buddhists 63,203-77.49%,Hindus 9,528-11.68%,Islam 6,211-7.61%,Roman Catholics 1,834-2.25%,Other Christians 782-0.96%,Others 5-0.01%. Balangoda is notable due to the

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

of skeletal

Hominini The Hominini (hominins) form a Tribe (biology), taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the gen ...

remains from the late

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

period (the earliest reliably dated record of anatomically modern humans in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

). The town is also the birthplace of

Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero () (23 August 1896 — 18 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was one of the most distinguished scholars and expositors of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was highly respected by Sri La ...

and

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...

(the world's first female

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

) the

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

(1960–65, 1970–77 and 1994–2000). Balangoda is situated in the hilly central region of central Sri Lanka on Sabaragamuwa Mountain Range. The main livelihoods of this region are farming (vegetables, fruits, and spices), rice cultivation for mainly local consumption, tea cultivation for international markets as a commercial crop and gem mining.

Education

Universities

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (, ) is a public university in Belihuloya, Balangoda, Sri Lanka. It was founded on 20 November 1991 and consists of Nine faculties. History Palabaddala Monastic University This ancient university was ...

Schools

The main schools in the area are: * R/Balangoda Ananda Maithreya Central College(National School) - The Best School in Balangoda Area.Founded by Balangoda Ananda Maithreya Thero. * Jeilani Central College(National School) * Balangoda Kanaganayagam Tamil Central College * Vidyaloka Maha Vidyalaya * R/B/C.C.Tamil Maha Vidyalyam * Meddakanda Maha Vidyalaya * Meddekanda Tamil Vidyalaya * R/Bulathgama Vidyalaya * R/Rassagala Maha Vidyalaya *R/Rathamalavinna M.V. * Sri Buddha Jayanthi Central College *Sri Shariputhra Maha Vidyalaya * St Agnes Balika Maha Vidyalaya (St. Agnes Convent) * Udagama Maha Vidyalaya * Walagamba Maha Vidyalaya-Weligepola

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sabaragamuwa Province

Education

Universities

Schools

See also

References