Kurunegala is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in North Western Province,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Consists of and consists 30 Divisional Secretariats, 1610 Grama Niladari Divisions and 4476 total Villages. It consists of 14 Electorate Divisions, 02 Municipal Council, 19 Urban Councils, 15 Parliamentary Ministers, 47 Provincial Council Members, 15 Ministers and 337 Local Council Members.http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/paperspresented/performance_report_district_secretariat_kurunegala_2012.pdf

Geography

Considering Geographical Situation of the Kurunegala District, it has been bounded by six Districts. From the North by Anuradhapura District, East by Mathale and Kandy District, South By Gampaha and Kegalle District and from West by Puttlam District. Longitude location of the District is north Latitude 228- 333 and East Latitude 104–178.

History

Kurunegala has very special historical background among other Districts. That is it consists of four ancient kingdoms namely

Panduwasnuwara Panduwasnuwara is an ancient capital, situated in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. It is said to be the controlling centre known as Parakramapura of Dakkhinadesa (South Country) in the 12th century, when it was ruled by Parakramabahu. The remain ...

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

Yapahuwa Yapahuwa (Sinhalese language : යාපහුව) was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying midway between Kurunagala and Anuradhapura was built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost a ...

and

Dambadeniya Dambadeniya ''(DMBD)'' is a ruined ancient city situated in the North Western Province (Wayamba), Sri Lanka on the Kurunegala–Negombo main road. It served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the mid 13th century. Much of Dambadeniya still lies burie ...

Demographic details

As a percentage of Total population of Sri Lanka, Kurunegala District has 7.3% of the population. According to the census data, the estimated population of Kurunegala in the year 2001 was 1.4 Million. Majority of Kurunegala District's residents belong to the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

majority. Other ethnic minorities include the Sri Lankan Moors, Sri Lankan Tamils, Burghers and Malays. Residents from ethnic minorities live in all parts of the District. The following Table summarizes the population of

according to different ethnicity:

Language

The common languages of Kurunegala, depending on social classes, social circles, and ethnic backgrounds are Sinhalese, Tamil and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Religion

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

is the main and the most widely practised religion in Kurunegala. The town is also home to a wide range of other religious faiths and sects including

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Christian/Catholic churches, mosques and Hindu temples are also located within the city. The

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon ( si, ලංකා සභාව) is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointme ...

, which is the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in Sri Lanka operates a diocese in Kurunegala covering the North-Central province and Kurunegala,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

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 ...

Anuradapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa Dis ...

districts.

Economy

Education

Kurunegala District has 6 Educational Zones, 869 Schools including 28 National Schools, and the District has 20,006 Teachers.

Climate

Kurunegala features a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

. The city's climate is tropical and hot all throughout the year. The surrounding rocks play a major role in determining Kurunegala's weather since these rocks increase and retain the heat of the day. During the month of April the temperature can rise up to about . The only major change in the Kurunegala weather occurs during the monsoons from May to August and October to January, this is the time of year where heavy rains can be expected. While the city does experience a noticeably drier weather during January and February, it does not qualify as a true

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

as average precipitation in both months are above . In general, temperatures from late November to mid February period are lower than the rest of the year. Middle rainfall of this District is 900 - 2200 ml. North East Monsoon and South West Monsoon are the main rainfall method in this district. South West Monsoon is the largest rainfall system. The average annual rainfall in Kurunegala is about .

Canals and rivers

Considering water supply system of the district it consists of Four Canals bounded on the North by Kala oya, Central by Meeoya and Deduru oya, South by Ma oya. There are many Large Scale and Small Irrigation Systems that has been implemented based on these canals. These are Rajanganaya, Usgala, Siyambalangamuwa, Hakwatunawa, Kimbulwana Oya, Bathalagoda, Magalla, Palukadawala, Atharagalla, Mediyawa, Wennoruwa and Ambakolawewa are some of the examples.

Major cities

(Municipal Council)

Big towns

Kuliyapitiya Kuliyapitiya is the second largest town in Kurunegala District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is located north-east of Colombo and from Kurunegala. Kuliyapitiya is home to the Wayamba University of Sri La ...

(Urban Council)

Other towns

References

{{Provinces and Districts of Sri Lanka Districts of Sri Lanka