Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (/sriːˈlɑːŋkə, -ˈlæŋkə/ or ⁱ/ʃriː-/;Sinhalese - ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon (/sᵻˈlɒnˌ seɪ-ˌ siː-/), is an island country in South Asia near south-east India.

Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. Its documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II.

A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. In addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.

North Central Province, Sri Lanka

North Central Province (Sinhalese: උතුරු මැද පළාත Uturumeda Palata, Tamil: வட மத்திய மாகாணம் Wada Maththiya Maakaanam) is a province of Sri Lanka. Its capital is Anuradhapura. The province is not densely populated, and it has a weak economy as the land tends to be dry tropical woodlands.

History

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

Major Cities

Other Towns

Central Province, Sri Lanka

The Central Province (Sinhalese: මධ්‍යම පළාත Madhyama Palata, Tamil: மத்திய மாகாணம் Malaiyakam Maakaanam) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division 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 established provincial councils.) The Central Province is primarily in the central mountainous terrain of Sri Lanka. It is the 6th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people. It is bordered by North Central Province to the north, Uva Province to the east, North Western Province to the west and Sabaragamuwa Province to the south and west. The province's capital is Kandy.

The cities of Matale and Nuwara Eliya are in the Central Province. The province is famous for its production Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. The Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Gampola, Hatton and Nuwara Eliya.

North Central Province

North Central Province may refer to:

See also

North Central Province (Victoria)

North Central Province was a former electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council (Australia). It was created in the redistribution of provinces in 1882 when the Central and Eastern Provinces were abolished. The new North Central Province, South Yarra, North Yarra, South Eastern and Melbourne Provinces were then created.

North Central Province was created and defined by the Legislative Council Act 1881 (taking effect from the 1882 elections) as consisting of the following divisions: McIvor, Heathcote, Pyalong, Kyneton, Glenlyon, Metcalfe, Strathfieldsaye, Mount Alexander, Mount Franklin, Newstead, Maldon, Castlemaine, Chewton and Daylesford.

North Central Province was abolished in 1904, with the creation of the new East Yarra, Melbourne East, Melbourne North, Melbourne South and Melbourne West Provinces .

Members for North Central Province

Notes

^t Fitzgerald and Embling transferred to Southern Province June 1904.
^g Gray transferred to Bendigo Province June 1904.

North Central Province, Maldives

North Central Province was one of the seven short-lived provinces of the Maldives. The provinces were created in a decentralization attempt by the Nasheed administration in 2008. It was governed by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ms. Thilmeeza Hussain. Rejecting this change, the Parliament saw the abolition of the province system in 2010, through a newly enacted Decentralization Act. The province consisted of Alif Alif, Alif Dhaal, Kaafu and Vaavu Atolls, and Malé City. Its capital was Maafushi. Its population (2006 census) was 31,202.

References