North Central Province

North Central Province උතුරු මැද පළාත வட மத்திய மாகாணம் Uturumeda Province
—  Province  —
Flag
Location within Sri Lanka
Country	Sri Lanka
Created	1873
Admitted	14 November 1987
Capital	Anuradhapura
Largest City	Anuradhapura
Government
- Governor	Karunarathne Diulgane
- Chief Minister	Berty Premalal Dissanayake
Area
- Total	10,714 km2 (4,136.7 sq mi)
Area rank	1st (16.31% of total area)
Population (2001)
- Total	1,104,664
- Rank	8th (5.91% of total pop.)
- Density	103.1/km2 (267/sq mi)
Gross Regional Product (2010)[1]
- Total	Rs 232 billion
- Rank	7th (4.8% of total)
Time zone	Sri Lanka (UTC+05:30)
Official Languages	Sinhala, Tamil
Website	ncp.gov.lk

North Central Province (Sinhala: 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 with 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.

The instruments of devolution:

(i) The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1987) and

(ii)The Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides for -

The establishment of Provincial Councils

The appointment and powers of the Governor of Provinces

Membership and tenure of Provincial Councils

The appointment and powers of the Board of Ministers

The legislative powers of the Provincial Councils

Alternative arrangements where there is a failure in the administrative machinery

The establishment of the High Court of the Province

The establishment of the Finance Commission

Demographics

Population of Uturumeda by ethnic group 1881 to 2009

Year	Sinhalese		Tamils1		Muslims2		Others		Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1881 Census										100.00%
1891 Census										100.00%
1901 Census										100.00%
1911 Census										100.00%
1921 Census										100.00%
1946 Census										100.00%
1963 Census										100.00%
1971 Census										100.00%
1981 Census										100.00%
2001 Census										100.00%
2009 Estimate										100.00%
Source:

¹ Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. ² Sri Lankan Moors and Sri Lankan Malays.

Population of North Central Province by religion 1981 census

Administrative District	Buddhist		Hindu		Muslim		Roman Catholic		Other Christian		Others		Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Anuradhapura														100.00%
Polonnaruwa														100.00%
Total														100.00%
Source:

Provincial Council

Provincial council is the main administrative and control body of the North Central Province which is the largest province in the country covered 16% of total country's land area. It consists two districts called Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapure; Anuradhapure is the largest district in the country. NCP also called Wew Bendi Rajje because there are more than 3000 medium and large scale tanks situated in the province. More than 65% of NCP's people depend on basic Agriculture and agro base industries.

North Central Province has numourous potentials for Investers to start their Businesses, specially Agriculture, agro based industries and Livestock sectors.

Hon. Governor of the Province - Karunarathne Diulgane

Hon. Chief Minister of the province - Berty Premalal Dissanayake

Chief Secretary of the province - Mr. A. Thalakotunage

Administrative Units

The two districts of the North Central Province.

Districts

Uturumeda is divided into 2 districts:

• Anuradhapura District 7,128 km² (2,752 sq mi)
• Polonnaruwa District 3,403 km² (1,314 sq mi)

Divisional Secretariat

There are 30 divisional Secretariats.

Pradesiyasaba

There are 26 pradesiyasabas and one municipal council

Municipal Council

There is 1 municipal councils called Anuradhapure Municipal council. It is the largest urban council (According to land extent) in Sri Lanka. (41 squire km)

Grama Niladhari Divisions

There are 984 grama niladhari divisions.

Villages

There are 3742 villages.

Electorate District

There are 7 electorate districts.

Education

Anuradhapura

• Rajarata University - Anuradhapura
• Open University, Anuradhapura – Anuradhapura
• Teachers Training School - Anuradhapura
• Technical college – Anuradhapura
• [Buddhsravaka Bhiksu University - Anuradhapura
• [NITA] K.B.Rathnayake MW - Anuradhapura

Polonnaruwa

• Pulatishi - Polonnaruwa

See also

• Provinces of Sri Lanka
• Districts of Sri Lanka

References

1. ^ :.News Line : North, East record highest GDP growth rate

External links

• North Central Province Provincial Council
• Cities in North Central province

Coordinates: 8°20′N 80°30′E / 8.333°N 80.5°E / 8.333; 80.5