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Area 1,282 km²
Population 809,344
Province Southern Province
Sinhalese 757,046 (94.16%)
Sri Lankan Moors 5,060 (0.63%)
Sri Lankan Tamil 23,635 (2.94%)
Indian Tamil 17,937 (2.23%)
Other 321 (0.04%)
Buddhist 756,098 94.0%
Muslim 18,908 2.35%
Christian 25,982 3.23%
Hindu 2,901 0.36%
Other 110 0.01%

Matara

Description

Matara is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka.

About

Matara District is located in the south west of Sri Lanka and has an area of 1,282.5 square kilometres (495.2 sq mi).

It is represented in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election by former Sri Lankan national Cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya who stood for the United People's Freedom Alliance.

Matara District is divided into 16 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).[3] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 650 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions),with 1,658 villages.It lies at the mouth of the Nilwala River on the island’s southern coast. Its name, meaning Great Ford, arose from its location at a river crossing. The Portuguese held the town in the 17th century, and the Dutch in the 18th. Under both countries it was an important commercial centre, and Dutch fortifications can still be seen