North Central Province ( si, උතුරු මැද පළාත ''Uturumæda Paḷāta'', ta, வட மத்திய மாகாணம் ''Wada Maththiya 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 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 o ...

established provincial councils. The province is the largest by size, and second least populated in the country. The province consists of the districts of

Anuradhapura 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 ...

and

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 ...

, both of which were important ancient Sri Lankan kingdoms. The climate is semi-arid, and the forests are dry evergreen forests.

History

The centralised system of Sri Lanka, which is a unitary state, failed to satisfy the aspirations of the people. There was growing insistence on decentralisation of administrative processes to achieve rapid economic and social development of the country. In the Sri Lankan context, devolution means the transferring of political and administrative decision-making authority from the central government to elected bodies at the lower levels.

Demographics

Employment

Provincial council

The provincial council is the main administrative and control body in the North Central Province, which is the largest province in the country covering 16% of the country's total land area. It consists two districts, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapure; Anuradhapure is the largest district in the country. The province is also called ''Wew Bendi Rajje'' because there are more than 3000 medium and large scale tanks situated in the province. More than 65% of the province’s people depend on basic agriculture and agricultural based industries. North Central Province has numerous potential for investors to start their businesses, specially agriculture, agricultural based industries and livestock sectors.

Administrative divisions

The North Central Province is divided into two

districts 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 ...

and 29 divisional secretariats.

Districts

Divisional secretariats

Municipal Councils

Towns

* Aralaganwila * Bakamuna * Eppawala * Giritale * Habarana * Hingurakgoda * Horowpothana * Kahatagasdigiliya * Kebithigollewa * Kekirawa * Mahailuppallama * Manampitiya * Maradankadawala *

Medawachchiya Medawachchiya is a town in the Anuradhapura District, North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Situated 27 km from Anuradhapura, on the '' A9'' Jaffna - Kandy main road, it is 229 km from Colombo. Medawachchiya is also the point from which ...

Mihintale Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is ...

* Minneriya * Nochchiyagama * Padaviya *

- Kaduruwela * Rambewa * Thalawa * Thambuttegama * Welikanda

Education

Anuradhapura

* Anuradhapura Central College * Niwaththaka Chethiya National School. Anuradhapura * Anuradhapura Technical College * Buddhsravaka Bhiksu University * K. B. Rathnayake MW *

Open University of Sri Lanka "The Open University of Sri Lanka" (OUSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විවෘත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை திறந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a national universit ...

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Rajarata University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை ரஜரட்ட பல்கலைக்கழகம், abbreviated RUSL) is a public uni ...

Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education The Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා උසස් තාක්ෂණ අධ්‍යපන ආයතනය; ta, இலங்கை உயர் தொழில்நுட்ப நி ...

* St. Joseph's College * Teachers Training School * University College of Anuradhapura (University of Vocational Technology)

Polonnaruwa

* Polonnaruwa Royal Central College * Pulathisipura National College of Education * Technical College-Polonnaruwa

References

External links

North Central Province Provincial Council

Cities in North Central province
{{Authority control Provinces of Sri Lanka Kingdom of Kandy