Gampaha District

Gampaha District (Sinhala: ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය gampaha distrikkaya, Tamil: கம்பஹா மாவட்டம் Kampahā Māvaṭṭam) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. It is the second most populous district of Sri Lanka after Colombo District. 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 town of Gampaha. Negombo however is the largest city and the commercial hub of Gampaha district. The district was carved out of the northern part of Colombo District in September 1978.[4]

Gampaha District

ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය
கம்பஹா மாவட்டம்
Administrative District
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 07°08′N 80°00′E
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceWestern
CreatedSeptember 1978
CapitalGampaha
DS Division
Government
 • District SecretarySunil Jayalath
Area
 • Total1,387 km2 (536 sq mi)
 • Land1,341 km2 (518 sq mi)
 • Water46 km2 (18 sq mi)  3.32%
Area rank21st (2.11% of total area)
Population
 (2012 census)[2]
 • Total2,294,641
 • Rank2nd (11.32% of total pop.)
 • Density1,700/km2 (4,300/sq mi)
Ethnicity
(2012 census)[2]
 • Sinhalese2,079,115 (90.61%)
 • Sri Lankan Moors95,501 (4.16%)
 • Sri Lankan Tamil80,071 (3.49%)
 • Malays11,658 (0.51%)
 • Other28,296 (1.23%)
Religion
(2012 census)[3]
 • Buddhist1,640,166 (71.48%)
 • Christian486,173 (21.19%)
 • Muslim114,851 (5.01%)
 • Hindu52,221 (2.28%)
 • Other1,230 (0.05%)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka)
Post Codes
11000-11999
Telephone Codes011, 031, 033
ISO 3166 codeLK-12
Vehicle registrationWP
Official LanguagesSinhala, Tamil
WebsiteGampaha District Secretariat

Geography

Gampaha District is located in the west of Sri Lanka and has an area of 1,387 square kilometres (536 sq mi).[1] It is bounded by Kurunegala and Puttalam districts from north, Kegalle District from east, Colombo District from south and by the Indian Ocean from west.[4] The borders of the district are the Ma Oya on the north, Kelani River on the south and 1,000 ft contour line on the east.

Administrative units

Gampaha District is divided into 13 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).[5] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 1,177 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).[5]

DS Division Main Town Divisional Secretary GN
Divisions
[5]		 Area
(km2)
[6]		 Population (2012 Census)[7] Population
Density
(/km2)
SinhaleseSri Lankan MoorsSri Lankan
Tamil		MalaysOtherTotal
AttanagallaAttanagallaD. M. Rathnayake151149154,96921,389927657874178,8161,200
BiyagamaBiyagamaT. D. S. P. Perera4959171,45412,1331,622677976186,8623,167
DivulapitiyaDivulapitiyaH. M. L. S. Herath123202142,420801,00334334143,871712
DompeDompeH. G. J. P. Wijesiriwardhna133176150,0162,28244352344153,137870
GampahaGampahaC. P. W. Gunathilaka10196194,292359942119733196,4452,046
Ja-ElaJa-ElaNimali De Silva5760186,2019627,7781,2324,981201,1543,353
KatanaKatanaK. G. H. H. R. Kiriella79116214,2073,3619,8781,0205,388233,8542,016
KelaniyaKelaniyaW. H. V. Pushpamala3720113,1338,5887,8342,6742,464134,6936,735
MaharaMaharaThamara D. Perera9294194,6375,4882,3263,5481,231207,2302,205
MinuwangodaMinuwangodaC. P. W. Gunathilake121128171,2545,633827243444178,4011,394
MirigamaMirigamaY. I. M. Silva149183155,4695,592885992,121164,166897
NegomboNegomboA. K. R. Alawaththa3950107,15519,36412,5902782,289141,6762,834
WattalaWattalaChandima Dissanayake4654123,90810,27033,0161,0256,117174,3363,228
Total1,1771,3872,079,11595,50180,07111,65828,2962,294,6411,654

Demographics

Population

Gampaha District's population was 2,294,641 in 2012.[2] The majority of the population are Sinhalese, with a minority Sri Lankan Moor and Sri Lankan Tamil population.

Ethnicity
Population of Gampaha District by ethnic group 1981 to 2012[2][8]
Year Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors Sri Lankan Tamil Malays Other Total
No.
No.%No.%No.%No.%No.%
1981 Census1,279,51291.99%37,8262.72%48,1823.46%8,6750.62%16,6671.20%1,390,862
2001 Census1,877,54590.98%78,7053.81%65,3023.16%13,6830.66%28,4491.38%2,063,684
2012 Census2,079,11590.61%95,5014.16%80,0713.49%11,6580.51%28,2961.23%2,294,641

Religion
Population of Gampaha District by religion 1981 to 2012[3][9]
Year Buddhist Christian[lower-alpha 1] Muslim Hindu Other Total
No.
No.%No.%No.%No.%No.%
1981 Census989,21271.12%325,91523.43%48,1173.46%26,7501.92%8680.06%1,390,862
2001 Census1,479,95571.71%446,64721.64%93,4964.53%42,3562.05%1,2300.06%2,063,684
2012 Census1,640,16671.48%486,17321.19%114,8515.01%52,2212.28%1,2300.05%2,294,641

Notes
  1. Roman Catholic and Other Christian.

References
  1. "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. "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  3. "A3 : Population by religion according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  4. "Overview". Gampaha District Secretariat. Archived from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
  5. "Grama Niladhari Divisions". Gampaha District Secretariat. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
  6. "Land area by province, district and divisional secretariat division" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
  7. "A6 : Population by ethnicity and district according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  8. "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.
  9. "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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