Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, formerly Kotte, city and legislative capital of Sri Lanka. It is located in the southwestern part of the country, about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the commercial capital of Colombo, of which it was once a suburb. An urban council governs Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte and the neighbouring town of Nugegoda. Despite the city’s urban character, it contains a number of rice paddies and plantations.

As Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, it was the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom of Kotte from 1415 to 1565, largely owing to the lagoons, rivers, and swamps that still encircle it and provide a natural defense. Its partition at the beginning of the 16th century culminated in the Portuguese domination of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). At some point the city’s name was abbreviated to Kotte. When the first Portuguese envoys were taken from Colombo to Kotte in 1505, the Sinhalese led them on a circuitous three-day trip to conceal the capital’s location. “To go to Kotte” thus became a Sinhalese synonym for a roundabout route.

Within several decades of Sri Lankan independence (1948), government offices had outgrown the country’s capital of Colombo, and the decision was made to relocate offices outside the city. In 1977 the government designated Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, under its original name, the new capital, and in 1982 the new parliament building was inaugurated there. The following year other government offices began moving to the city.

Contemporary Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is a planned urban site with government offices and residential housing. The parliament house and other legislative buildings are located on a small island in Lake Diyawanna Oya, situated in the midst of reclaimed swampland. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura, one of Sri Lanka’s premier institutions of higher learning, is located in the city. The university was originally founded in 1873 as Vidyodaya Pirivena, a Buddhist centre of learning, and attained university status in 1958; it took its current name in 1978. Pop. (2001) 116,366; (2012) 107,925.

Om Colombo-distriktet

Colombo er Sri Lankas største by og handelshovedstad. Den ligger på øens vestkyst og støder op til Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Sri Lankas hovedstad. Colombo er en travl og pulserende by med en blanding af moderne liv og koloniale bygninger og ruiner og en bybefolkning på 647.100. Colombo Metropolitan Region, defineret af distrikterne Colombo, Gampaha og Kalutara, har en anslået befolkning på 5.648.000 og dækker et areal på 3.694,20 km². Colombo er en multietnisk, multikulturel by. Det er den mest folkerige by i Sri Lanka med 642.163 mennesker, der bor inden for bygrænsen. Befolkningen i Colombo er en blanding af adskillige etniske grupper, primært singalesere, maurere og tamiler. Der er også små samfund af mennesker med kinesisk, portugisisk, hollandsk, malaysisk og indisk oprindelse, der bor i byen, samt adskillige europæiske udlændinge. Langt de fleste srilankanske virksomheder har deres hovedkontorer i Colombo. Nogle af industrierne omfatter kemikalier, tekstiler, glas, cement, lædervarer, møbler og smykker. I byens centrum ligger Sydasiens næsthøjeste bygning - World Trade Center.

Om Vestprovinsen

Vestprovinsen er den tættest befolkede provins i Sri Lanka. Den er hjemsted for den lovgivende hovedstad Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte samt Colombo, landets administrative og forretningsmæssige centrum. Vestprovinsen er opdelt i 3 hoveddistrikter kaldet Colombo (642 km²), Gampaha (1.386,6 km²) og Kalutara (1.606 km²). Som Sri Lankas økonomiske centrum er alle de store lokale og internationale virksomheder til stede i byen, ligesom alle de store designer- og detailhandlere, så vær klar til at forkæle dig selv med lidt shoppingterapi i den vestlige provins. Med den højeste befolkning i alle provinser er næsten alle de førende uddannelsesinstitutioner på øen placeret i den vestlige provins. Universiteterne i provinsen omfatter University of Colombo, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University og University of Moratuwa. Den vestlige provins har det største antal skoler i landet, herunder nationale, provinsielle, private og internationale skoler.

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