The Sabaragamuwa Province ( si, සබරගමුව පළාත ''Sabaragamuwa Paḷāta'', ta, சபரகமுவ மாகாணம் ''Sabaragamuwa Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division 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 The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka (13A) is amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, passed in 1987, which created Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka. This amendment also made Sinhala and Tamil the official languages of ...

established

provincial councils A province is a geographic region within Gaelic games, consisting of several County (Gaelic games), counties of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the historic four provinces of Ireland as they were set in 1610. Provin ...

. The Sabaragamuwa Province contains two districts: Ratnapura and Kegalle. It is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara, an indic term for

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

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, li ...

Districts

Sabaragamuwa is divided into 2 districts: * Kegalle District * Ratnapura District

Municipal Council

* Ratnapura

Urban Council

* Balangoda * Embilipitiya * Kegalle

Other Towns

* Bulathkohupitiya *

* Eheliyagoda *

Kalawana Kalawana ( si, කලවාන, ta, கலாவானா) is a town in the Ratnapura District of Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka. Kalawana is located approximately away from Ratnapura and {{convert, 100, km, abbr=on to the south-east of ...

* Kuruwita * Mawanella *

Aranayaka Aranayaka ( si, අරණායක) is a town in the Kegalle District of Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka. Its agricultural economy revolves around local rubber, tea, banana and mahogany plantations. The Mawanella-Aranayaka-Horawella Road (Hi ...

* Rakwana * Imbulpe * Deraniyagala * Ambepussa * Rambukkana * Kitulgala * Panamure * Godakawela

Demographics

Ethnic groups

Sinhalese are the majority of Sabaragamuwa province which makes 86.4% of the province. Sinhalese 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 languages, 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 milli ...

which is an Indo-Aryan language. 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 make 4.27% of the province. The origins of the Moors 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 as their second language.

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pro ...

are 3.75% of the Sabaragamuwa province. Sri Lankan Tamils speak Tamil language which is their mother tongue.

Religion

Buddhism is 85.7% in Sabaragamuwa province. Buddhism is followed by majority Sinhalese. Also a small Tamil population follow Buddhism. Hinduism is 8.1% in Sabaragamuwa province. Indian Tamils and

follow Hinduism. Islam is 4.43% which is followed by Moors. 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