Balangoda is a large town in

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 L ...

Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka 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 administrat ...

, governed by an urban council located away from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and from

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 o ...

on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the

Sabaragamuwa Province 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 administrati ...

. According to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Balangoda has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 16,875 and area of . Balangoda is notable due to the discovery of skeletal

Hominini The Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas). The ...

remains from the late

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million year ...

period (the earliest reliably dated record of anatomically modern humans in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

). The town is also the birthplace of Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero and

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

(the world's first female

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

) the

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, w ...

(1960–65, 1970–77 and 1994–2000). Balangoda is situated in the hilly central region of central Sri Lanka on Sabaragamuwa Mountain Range. The main livelihoods of this region are farming (vegetables, fruits, and spices), rice cultivation for mainly local consumption, tea cultivation for international markets as a commercial crop and gem mining.

Education

Universities

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සබරගමුව විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, சபரகமுவா பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in Belih ...

Schools

The main schools in the area are: * Balangoda Ananda Maithreya National School * Vidyaloka Central College * R/B/C.C.Tamil Maha Vidyalyam * Meddakanda Maha Vidyalaya * Jeilani Central College * Sri Buddha Jayanthi Central College * Sri Shariputhra Maha Vidyalaya (The school is located in Imbulpe Divisional Secretariat which is adjoining to Balangoda Divisional Secretariat.) * St Agnes Balika Maha Vidyalaya (St. Agnes Convent) * Udagama Maha Vidyalaya * Walagamba Maha Vidyalaya-Weligepola

References

Populated places in Sabaragamuwa Province {{SabaragamuwaLK-geo-stub

Education

Universities

Schools

See also

References