Sabaragamuwa Province
province of Sri Lanka
The Sabaragamuwa Province (IPA: [səbəɾəɡəmuʋə], Sinhala: සබරගමුව පළාත, romanised: Sabaragamuwa Paḷāta, Tamil: சபரகமுவ மாகாணம், romanised: Sabaragamuva Mākāṇam) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province.
History
The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British in the 19th century, but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils.
The province is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara (शबर Śabara), an Indic term for hunter-gatherers (mleccha) and the Sinhala gamuwa, "gathering place."
The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka is located in the town of Belihuloya, and was founded in 1991.
Geography
The province has an area of 4,968 km2 and a population of 1,918,880. Major towns include Ratnapura and Kegalle.
Demographics
Ethnic groups
The Sinhalese are the majority ethnic group of the Sabaragamuwa province. Additionally, there are sizeable minority populations of Indian Tamils, Moors and Sri Lankan Tamils.
Religion
Administrative divisions
Sabaragamuwa is divided into two districts and 28 divisional secretariats.
“Sabaragamuwa Province” enters the record as province of Sri Lanka. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sabaragamuwa, Province and province can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Sabaragamuwa Province” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Sabaragamuwa, Province and province provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q853272. The first chronological checks are 1987 and 1991.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sabaragamuwa Province”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sabaragamuwa Province primary sources, Sabaragamuwa Province archive and Sabaragamuwa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sabaragamuwa Province”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Sabaragamuwa Province” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.