The Sabaragamuwa Province ( si, සබරගමුව පළාත ''Sabaragamuwa Paḷāta'', ta, சபரகமுவ மாகாணம் ''Sabaragamuwa Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine

provinces of Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, provinces ( si, පළාත, translit=Paḷāta; ta, மாகாணம், translit=Mākāṇam) are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next ...

, the first level

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. The Sabaragamuwa Province contains two districts:

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 located ...

and

Kegalle Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle District ...

. It is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara, an indic term for hunter-gatherer tribes, a term seldom used in ancient Sri Lanka. Sabaragamuwa University is in

Belihuloya Belihuloya is a village in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately south-east of Colombo and is situated at an elevation of above sea level. This hillside location is a climatically transitional area, l ...

Districts

Sabaragamuwa is divided into 2 districts: *

Kegalle District Kegalle is a district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (pr ...

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

Municipal Council

Urban Council

* Balangoda *

Embilipitiya Embilipitiya is a town, governed by an urban council, in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. Overview In the 1970s it was a small town with two or three small boutiques. Under the Udawalawe development project, Embilipitiya g ...

Other Towns

* Bulathkohupitiya *

* Eheliyagoda *

Kalawana Kalawana ( si, කලවාන, ta, கலாவானா) is a town in the Ratnapura District of Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இல� ...

Kuruwita Kuruwita is a town in the Ratnapura District of Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is 87 km from Colombo. It used to be served by the narrow gauge Sabaragamuwa Railway, a branch of the national railway system. And known for the near ...

* Mawanella * Aranayaka * Rakwana * Imbulpe *

Deraniyagala Deraniyagala is a town in the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()) ...

Ambepussa Ambepussa is a town in the Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. History The Ambepussa railway station, was the terminus station for the first rail passenger service, a ten-carriage train which departed Colombo Fort railway s ...

* Rambukkana * Kitulgala * Panamure * Godakawela

Demographics

Ethnic groups

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language prima ...

are the majority of Sabaragamuwa province which makes 86.4% of the province.

who makes the majority of the Sabaragamuwa province as well as the majority of the country speak

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...

which is an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

. Indian Tamils is 5.49% of the province. Indian Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka by Britishers as workers in tea plantations and rubber plantations.

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct o ...

make 4.27% of the province. The origins of the

refer to Arab traders who landed on the island in the 8th-9th centuries.Also many Moors can speak

as their mother tongue. Moors speak

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pud ...

as their second language. Sri Lankan Tamils are 3.75% of the Sabaragamuwa province. Sri Lankan Tamils speak

which is their mother tongue.

Religion

Buddhism is 85.7% in Sabaragamuwa province. Buddhism is followed by majority

. Also a small Tamil population follow Buddhism. Hinduism is 8.1% in Sabaragamuwa province. Indian Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils follow Hinduism. Islam is 4.43% which is followed by

. And Christianity make 1.72% of the province.

References

External links

Cities in Sabaragamuwa province

Postal codes of Sabaragamuwa province
Provinces of Sri Lanka Kingdom of Kandy {{SabaragamuwaLK-geo-stub