Hambantota: Location

Hambantota district is located in southern province of and the dry agro-ecological zone of Sri Lanka. Western parts of the istrict are located in the intermediate zone, and a small part of the more mountainous north-west is located in the wet zone. The district has an area of 2525 square km and a shoreline of 115 square km and inland water area covers approximately 113 square km. Hambantota district accounts for 4% of the country’s total land area. Hambantota ranks as the third poorest district in the country and the poorest coastal district in the country, recording 32 percent of its people as poor.

Hambantota has remained a dry and poor district in Sri Lanka for many decades with vast areas of land unutilized. It is a district with open land area and sparse greenery. But, with initiation of the new government more attention has been given to Hambantota and it is good to see an effort being made to change the earlier perception-a district with a dead central city, with dry, salty and windy conditions, where the major coastal cities and villages devastated and almost wiped off by raging
Tsunami waves,where people lost their lives during natural hazards. The present government is making every effort to narrow the persistent gap between the centre ( Colombo ) and the periphery ( Districts such as Hambantota ).Therefore , the government selected Hambantota as it is a district where huge potential is available for development. Specially, Land and natural resources.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Location

Hambantota District which is situated in the South-East of Sri Lanka occupies 2625.50 square Kms in area. The maximum length of the District is 106 KM. It extends from Ritigala in the West to Kumana in the East. The maximum width of the District is 39 KMs. It extends from Hingurakanda in the North to Welladdoragoda in the South. Just over 29.8 Square KM of the District is covered by major inland water bodies.