The Western Province ( ''Basnāhira Paḷāta''; ''Mael Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine
provinces of Sri Lanka
Provinces (; ) are the first level administrative division, administrative divisions of Sri Lanka. Currently, Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces. Each province is further divided into Districts of Sri Lanka, districts, which are further divi ...
, the first level
administrative division
Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
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. Western Province is the most densely populated province in the country and is home to the legislative capital
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (), also known as Jayapura or Kotte, is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo ...
as well as to
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
, the nation's administrative and business center.
History
Parts of present-day Western Province were part of the pre-colonial
Kingdom of Kotte
The Kingdom of Kotte (, ), named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century.
Founded by Parakramabahu VI with the help of the Ming, the Kingdom managed to conquer the Jaffna ki ...
. The province then came under
Portuguese,
Dutch and
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 ...
control. In 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of
Ceylon
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, ...
. They divided the island into three ethnic based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. The Western Province was part of the Low Country Sinhalese administration. In 1833, in accordance with the recommendations of the
Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the ethnic based administrative structures were unified into a single administration divided into five geographic provinces. The districts of Chilaw,
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
,
Kalutara
Kalutara (, ) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique posit ...
,
Puttalam
Puttalam (; ) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by a municipal council.
Climate
Under the ...
, Seven Korales (present day
Kurunegala District), Three Korales, Four Korales and Lower Bulatgama (present day
Kegalle District) formed the new Western Province. Chilaw District, Puttalam District and Seven Korales were transferred to the newly created
North Western Province in 1845. Three Korales, Four Korales and Lower Bulatgama were transferred to the newly created
Sabaragamuwa Province
The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province.
History
The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but ...
in 1889.
It is planned to create a planned Megacity under the
Western Region Megapolis
The Western Region Megapolis is an urban planning, zoning, and development area stretching from Negombo in the north to Beruwala in the south. It is designed to create a megapolis in Sri Lanka's Western Province by 2030.
The plan was created ...
Plan in the Western Province designed by
Surbana. Originally initiated in 2004 by
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...
it was stopped after his election defeat and was restarted again after his return to power in 2015. The project plans to merge Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts and introduce
zoning
In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
.
Geography and climate
Western Province is located in the southwest of Sri Lanka. It has an area of , making it the smallest of the country's nine provinces.
The province is surrounded by the
Laccadive Sea to the west,
North Western Province to the north,
Sabaragamuwa Province
The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province.
History
The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British Empire, British in the 19th century, but ...
to the east and the
Southern Province to the south.
The Western Province is vulnerable to recurrent flooding as a result of an increase in average rainfall coupled with heavier rainfall events, with knock-on impacts on the infrastructure, utility supply, and the urban economy of the Province. As the most urbanised province in Sri Lanka, these climate events pose a number of problems due to the rapid urban growth the province has undergone.
Administrative divisions
Districts
The Western Province is divided into three
administrative districts, 40
Divisional Secretary's Divisions (DS Divisions) and 2,505
Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).
Major population centres
Demographics
Population
The Western Province's population was 6,219,000 in 2021.
[ The majority of the population are Sinhalese, with a minority Sri Lankan Moor and Sri Lankan Tamil population.
]
Ethnicity
Religion
Economy
The Western province provides the highest contribution to the Gross Domestic Product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...
contributing 41.2% of the Provincial Gross Domestic Product(PGDP) and has a nominal PGDP growth rate of 5.8% as of 2015. Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
only made up 1.7% of the GDP the lowest among the nine provinces while Industrial sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...
made up 34.6% the highest in the country and service sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
represented 56.5%.
The province is undergoing rapid development with several of the largest infrastructure development projects happening in the province such as the Colombo International Financial City(CIFC) which is an International Financial Zone and the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project(WRMPP) Western province is also undergoing a major real estate and construction boom with residential and commercial buildings and skyscrapers changing the skylines of cities such as Colombo and Rajagiriya. Several major residential
A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...
, office
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...
and hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
buildings as well as resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
s and malls are either proposed or under construction.
The Colombo Harbour is also a major driver of economic growth being the busiest port in South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. It has both privately run and state owned terminals and is being expanded.
Education
Almost all the premier educational institutions in the island are located in the Western Province. Universities in the province includes the University of Colombo
The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...
, University of Kelaniya
The University of Kelaniya (UoK; , ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. Just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the city of Kelaniya, the university has two major institutions and seven faculties.
History
The University of Kelaniy ...
, University of Moratuwa
The University of Moratuwa (also referred as Moratuwa University) ( ''Moraṭuwa Wiśwawidyālaya'', ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. It is located on the bank of the Bolgoda Lake in Katubedda, Moratuwa, a suburb of Sri Lanka's capital C ...
, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka
The Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka is a Buddhist university in Homagama, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1981 and is organized in two faculties.
Objectives
The objectives that were fundamental to the establishment of the university in ...
, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, National Institute of Business Management and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology. Having the highest population in all the provinces, Western Province has the largest number of schools in the country, which includes national, provincial, private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
and international schools.
Transportation
Expressways in Western Province
* Southern Expressway
* Outer Circular Expressway
* Colombo-Katunayake Expressway
International Highways in Western Province
*
National Highways in Western Province
* Kollupitiya to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte
* Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
to Dummaladeniya
* Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
to Alutgama
* Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
to kochchikade
* Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
to Avissawella
* Panadura to Nambapana
* Ja Ela to Yakkala
See also
* List of settlements in Western Province (Sri Lanka)
* Provinces of Sri Lanka
Provinces (; ) are the first level administrative division, administrative divisions of Sri Lanka. Currently, Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces. Each province is further divided into Districts of Sri Lanka, districts, which are further divi ...
* Districts of Sri Lanka
Districts (, ) are the second level administrative divisions of Sri Lanka, preceded by Provinces of Sri Lanka, provinces. Sri Lanka has 25 districts organized into 9 provinces. Districts are further divided into a number of Divisional Secretar ...
Notes
References
External links
Western Provincial Council
{{Authority control
1833 establishments in Ceylon
Provinces of Sri Lanka