The Puttalam Lagoon is a large lagoon in the

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and ...

, western

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 ...

. The lagoon is fed by two rivers, namely the

Kala Oya The Kala Oya is the third longest river in Sri Lanka. It is approximately in length. The river has a basin size of , and more than 400,000 rural population live by the river basin. Its catchment area receives approximately 3,169 million cubic m ...

and

Mi Oya The Mi Oya is a long river, in North Western of Sri Lanka. It is the fifteenth-longest river in Sri Lanka. It begins in Saliyagama and flows northwest, emptying into the Indian Ocean thru Puttalam. Its catchment area In human geography, a ca ...

, discharging at and respectively. It is linked to

Mundal Lagoon Mundal Lagoon ( si, මුන්දලම කලපුව, ta, முந்தல், Muntal) is a lagoon in Puttalam District, western Sri Lanka. The lagoon is sometimes referred to as Mundal Lake. The lagoon is linked to Puttalam Lagoon to th ...

to the south by a

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

. The lagoon's water is brackish to

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

. The lagoon is surrounded by a region containing

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

s, open forests, grasslands and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

s. The land is used for prawn fishing, salt production, and rice cultivation. The lagoon has extensive mangroves, seagrasses and some salt marshes, attracting a wide variety of anatidae.

Islands

A moderate number islands scatter over the lagoon including:

References

{{Lagoons of Sri Lanka Bodies of water of Puttalam District Lagoons of Sri Lanka

Islands

See also

References