Provinces of Sri Lanka

Template:Short description Template:Infobox subdivision type Template:Contains special characters Template:Administrative divisions of Sri Lanka

Provinces (Template:Langx; Template:Langx) are the first level administrative divisions of Sri Lanka. Currently, Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces. Each province is further divided into districts, which are further divided into divisional secretariats.

The provinces were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century, most of the administrative functions of the provinces were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division of the country. By the middle of the 20th century, the provinces had become mostly ceremonial. This changed in 1987 when, following several decades of increasing demand for decentralization, the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils.<ref name="Law 2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

British Ceylon

Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Template:See also After the British took control of the entire island of Ceylon in 1815, it was divided into three ethnic-based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. In 1829, the British established the Colebrooke–Cameron Commission to review the colonial government of Ceylon, including its administrative structures.<ref name=LoC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The commission recommended that the existing three ethnic based administrations be unified into a single administration divided into five geographic provinces.<ref name=LoC/> Accordingly, on 1 October 1833, five provinces under one administration came into being:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name=DN210303>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=TN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Central Province – composed of the central Kandyan Provinces.
Eastern Province – composed of the maritime districts of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, and the Kandyan provinces of Bintenna and Tamankaduwa.
Northern Province – composed of the maritime districts of Jaffna, Mannar and Vanni, and the Kandyan province of Nuwara Kalawiya.
Southern Province – composed of the maritime districts of Galle, Hambantota, Matara and Tangalle, and the Kandyan provinces of Lower Uva, Saffragam and Wellassa.
Western Province – composed of the maritime districts of Colombo, Chilaw and Puttalam, and the Kandyan provinces of Three Korales, Four Korales, Seven Korales and Lower Bulathgama.

Over the next fifty years, four additional provinces were created, bringing the total number up to nine:<ref name=DN210303/><ref name=TN/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

North Western Province – created in 1845 from northern parts of the Western Province (districts of Chilaw, Puttalam and Seven Korales).Template:Sfn
North Central Province – created in 1873 from southern parts of the Northern Province (district of Nuwara Kalawiya) and north western parts of the Eastern Province (district of Tamankaduwa).Template:Sfn
Uva Province – created in 1886 from parts of the Central Province, Eastern Province (district of Bintenna) and Southern Province (district of Wellassa).Template:Sfn
Sabaragamuwa Province – created in 1889.Template:Sfn

Sri Lanka

File:Sri Lanka North Eastern Province locator map.svg

The short lived North Eastern Province

The number of provinces remained static until September 1988 when, in accordance with the Indo-Lanka Accord, President J. R. Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected council, creating the North Eastern Province.<ref name=DM171006>Template:Cite news</ref> The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary" entity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The merger was controversial and bitterly opposed by Sinhalese-speaking people, in particular. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.<ref name="DM171006" /> On 16 October 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.<ref name="DM171006" /> The North Eastern Province was formally de-merged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.

Sri Lanka currently has nine provinces, seven of which have had provincial councils from the start.<ref name="PC" />

List of provinces

All population data is from the most recent census of Sri Lanka, in 2012. Template:Static row numbers

Total				Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	20,359,439	Template:Convert
Province	Area map	Provincial capital	Established	Land area in km² (mi²)<ref name=abstract14>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Inland water area in km² (mi²)<ref name=abstract14/>	Total area in km² (mi²)<ref name=abstract14/>	Population (2012)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Population density per km² (per mi²)Template:Efn
Template:Flagicon Central	Area map of Central Province of Sri Lanka	Kandy	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	2,571,557	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon Eastern	Area map of Eastern Province of Sri Lanka	Trincomalee	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	1,555,510	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon North Central	Area map of North Central Province of Sri Lanka	Anuradhapura	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	1,266,663	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon Northern	Area map of Northern Province of Sri Lanka	Jaffna	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	1,061,315	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon North Western	Area map of North Western Province of Sri Lanka	Kurunegala	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	2,380,861	Template:Convert
Template:Flagcountry	Area map of Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka	Ratnapura	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	1,928,655	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon Southern	Area map of Southern Province of Sri Lanka	Galle	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	2,477,285	Template:Convert
Template:Flagcountry	Area map of Uva, Sri Lanka	Badulla	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	1,266,463	Template:Convert
Template:Flagicon Western	Area map of Western Province of Sri Lanka	Colombo	Template:Dts	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	Template:Convert	5,851,130	Template:Convert