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Colombo District

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Colombo District (Sinhala: කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya; Tamil: கொழும்பு மாவட்டம் Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previously known as a Government Agent) appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Colombo. The district of Colombo was officially recorded in 2016 as having the highest income on average, per household.[4]

Colombo District

කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය

கொழும்பு மாவட்டம்
Administrative District
Location within Sri Lanka
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 06°52′N 80°01′E / 6.867°N 80.017°E / 6.867; 80.017
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceWestern
CapitalColombo
DS Division
List
Government
 • District SecretaryPradeep Yasaratne
Area
[1]
 • Total
699 km2 (270 sq mi)
 • Land676 km2 (261 sq mi)
 • Water23 km2 (9 sq mi)  3.29%
 • Rank25th (1.07% of total area)
Population
 (2012 census)[2]
 • Total
2,309,809
 • Rank1st (11.40% of total pop.)
 • Density3,300/km2 (8,600/sq mi)
Ethnicity
(2012 census)[2]
 • Sinhalese1,771,319 (76.69%)
 • Sri Lankan Moors242,728 (10.51%)
 • Sri Lankan Tamil231,318 (10.01%)
 • Indian Tamil27,336 (1.18%)
 • Other37,108 (1.61%)
Religion
(2012 census)[3]
 • Buddhist1,631,999 (70.66%)
 • Muslim271,719 (11.76%)
 • Christian220,711 (9.56%)
 • Hindu182,342 (7.89%)
 • Other3,038 (0.13%)
Time zoneUTC 05:30 (Sri Lanka)
Post Codes
00000-10999
Telephone Codes011, 036
ISO 3166 codeLK-11
Vehicle registrationWP
Official LanguagesSinhala, Tamil
WebsiteColombo District Secretariat

History

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Colombo District was part of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Kotte. The district then came under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. In 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. Colombo District 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.[5] Colombo District, together with Kalutara, Puttalam, Seven Korales (present day Kurunegala District), Three Korales, Four Korales and Lower Bulatgama (present day Kegalle District) formed the new Western Province.[6] At the time that Ceylon gained independence, Colombo was one of the two districts located in the Western Province. Parts of the district were transferred to newly created Gampaha District in September 1978.

Geography

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Colombo District is located in the south west of Sri Lanka and has an area of 699 square kilometres (270 sq mi).[1]

Administrative units

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Colombo District is divided into 13 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).[7] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 566 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).[7]

DS Division Main Town Divisional Secretary GN
Divisions
[7] 		Area
(km2)
[8]
Colombo Colombo N. H. Rathnayake 35 18
Dehiwala Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia K. Champa N. Perera 15 8
Homagama Homagama 81 121
Kaduwela Kaduwela M. S. P. Suriyapperuma 57 88
Kesbewa Kesbewa L. A. Kalukapuarachchi 73 64
Kolonnawa Kolonnawa U. W. Senarathna 46 28
Maharagama Maharagama K. M. Buddhi Tharanga Karunasena 41 38
Moratuwa Moratuwa K. C. Niroshan 42 20
Padukka Padukka S. H. Hewage 46 110
Ratmalana Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Pradeep Ratnayaka 13 13
Seethawaka Avissawella P. D. S. Wijerathna 68 150
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Amal J. S. S. Edirisooriya 20 17
Thimbirigasyaya Colombo Geethamani C. Karunaratne 29 24
Total 566 699

Cities and Towns

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Largest cities or towns in Western Province,Sri Lanka
As per the 2012 Census[9][10]
Rank Pop.
 
Colombo
 
Kaduwela 		1 Colombo 693,593  
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia
 
Maharagama
2 Kaduwela 252,041
3 Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 233,290
4 Maharagama 196,423
5 Moratuwa 191,634
6 Kesbewa 185,122
7 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 125,270
8 Boralesgamuwa 60,110
9 Kolonnawa 60,044
10 Avissawella 30,308

Demographics

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Population

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Colombo District's population was 2,309,809 in 2012.[2] It has the highest population and population density in Sri Lanka. The majority of the population are Sinhalese, with a minority Sri Lankan Moor and Sri Lankan Tamil population.

Ethnicity

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Population of Colombo District by ethnic group 1946 to 2012[2][11][12]
Year Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors Sri Lankan Tamil Indian Tamil Other Total
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
1946 Census n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,420,332
1953 Census n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,708,726
1963 Census n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,207,420
1971 Census n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2,672,620
1981 Census[a] 1,318,835 77.61% 139,743 8.22% 170,590 10.04% 19,824 1.17% 50,249 2.96% 1,699,241
2001 Census 1,724,459 76.60% 202,731 9.01% 247,739 11.00% 24,821 1.10% 51,524 2.29% 2,251,274
2012 Census 1,771,319 76.69% 242,728 10.51% 231,318 10.01% 27,336 1.18% 37,108 1.61% 2,309,809
DS Division Population (2012 Census)[13] Population
Density
(/km2)
Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors Sri Lankan
Tamil		 Indian
Tamil		 Other Total
Colombo 79,468 126,345 97,690 8,635 5,910 318,048 17,669
Dehiwala 53,182 17,870 12,917 1,240 2,625 87,834 10,979
Homagama 231,878 508 1,907 460 1,426 236,179 1,952
Kaduwela 241,104 2,011 4,605 740 3,597 252,057 2,864
Kesbewa 237,781 1,114 2,403 439 2,325 244,062 3,813
Kolonnawa 128,623 40,412 15,934 2,101 3,747 190,817 6,815
Maharagama 187,363 1,369 3,107 529 2,987 195,355 5,141
Moratuwa 157,901 2,683 4,802 397 1,377 167,160 8,358
Padukka 62,472 998 1,238 334 125 65,167 592
Ratmalana 75,181 9,005 7,852 855 2,269 95,162 7,320
Seethawaka 100,046 838 5,007 7,285 301 113,477 757
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 91,268 5,207 7,503 801 2,729 107,508 6,324
Thimbirigasyaya 125,052 34,368 66,353 3,520 7,690 236,983 9,874
Total 1,771,319 242,728 231,318 27,336 37,108 2,309,809 3,304

Religion

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Religion in Colombo District (2011)[14]

  Buddhism (70.7%)
  Islam (11.8%)
  Christianity (9.6%)
  Hinduism (7.9%)
  Other (0.1%)
Population of Colombo District by religion 1981 to 2012[3][15]
Year Buddhist Muslim Christian[b] Hindu Other Total
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
1981 Census 1,196,964 70.44% 168,863 9.94% 200,545 11.80% 130,215 7.66% 2,654 0.16% 1,699,241
2001 Census 1,578,248 70.10% 241,944 10.75% 233,254 10.36% 194,743 8.65% 3,085 0.14% 2,251,274
2012 Census 1,631,999 70.66% 271,719 11.76% 220,711 9.56% 182,342 7.89% 3,038 0.13% 2,309,809

Notes

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  1. ^ Gampaha District was carved out of Colombo District in 1978.
  2. ^ Roman Catholic and Other Christian.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Area of Sri Lanka by province and district" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
  2. ^ a b c d "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  3. ^ a b "A3 : Population by religion according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  4. ^ "What is the wealthiest city in Sri Lanka? (Official 2016 Dataset)". Archived from the original on 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  5. ^ Mills, Lennox A. (1933). Ceylon Under British Rule (1795–1932). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 67–68.
  6. ^ Medis, G. C. (1946). Ceylon Under the British (2nd (revised) ed.). Colombo: The Colombo Apothecaries Co. pp. 39–40.
  7. ^ a b c "Grama Niladhari Divisions". Colombo District Secretariat. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  8. ^ "Land area by province, district and divisional secretariat division" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  9. ^ "Area, Population, Registered voters and Employees of Municipalities, 2011 – 2012" (PDF). Statistics Statistical Abstract 2013. Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  10. ^ http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2019/CHAP2/2.4 [bare URL]
  11. ^ "Census of Population Sri Lanka 1971 – General Report". Census of Population & Housing, 1971. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. p. 29. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
  12. ^ "Population by ethnic group and district, Census 1981, 2001" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15.
  13. ^ "A6 : Population by ethnicity and district according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  14. ^ Department of Census and Statistics,The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011 Archived 2019-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Population by religion and district, Census 1981, 2001" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
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