North Central Province ( ''Uturumæda Paḷāta'', ''Vada Mattiya Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The province has an area of 10,472 km², making it the largest province by area, and a population of 1,266,663, making it the 3rd least populated province. The city of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

is the capital of the province.

History

The North Central province is home to the ancient cities of

and

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...

, both of which were historical capitals of

during ancient times. The two cities were the capitals of the Anuradhapura kingdom (437 BCE–1017 CE) and the Polonnaruwa kingdom (1070–1232) respectively. The provinces of Sri Lanka were established by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in 1833. In independent Sri Lanka, provinces did not have any legal status or power until 1987, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. The centralised system of Sri Lanka, which is a

unitary state A unitary state is a (Sovereign state, sovereign) State (polity), state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or ...

, 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. The North Central Provincial Council is the main administrative and control body in the North Central Province.

Geography

The province has an area of 10,472 km² and a population of 1,266,663. It is the largest province by area, covering 16% of the total land area of Sri Lanka. The province consists two districts, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura; the Anuradhapura district is the largest district in Sri Lanka by area. The province has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

and most

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s situated in the province are Sri Lankan dry-zone dry evergreen forests. The province is also referred to as ''Wew Bendi Rajje'' due to the sheer amount of medium and large scale tanks situated in the province, with more than 3000. More than 65% of the province’s population depend on basic agriculture and agricultural based industries. The North Central province has innumerable potential for investors to start their businesses, specially agriculture, agricultural based industries and livestock sectors.

Demographics

Ethnicity

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, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, form the pluralit ...

and Indian Tamils.

Religion

Employment

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.