Puttalam

This article is about the town in Sri Lanka. For the district, see Puttalam District.
Puttalam
පුත්තලම
புத்தளம்
Puttalam
Coordinates: 08°02′03″N 79°50′07″E / 8.03417°N 79.83528°E / 8.03417; 79.83528Coordinates: 08°02′03″N 79°50′07″E / 8.03417°N 79.83528°E / 8.03417; 79.83528
Country Sri Lanka
Province North Western
Population
 • Total 45,401
Time zone Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+05:30)

Puttalam (Sinhalese: පුත්තලම; Tamil: புத்தளம்) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by an Urban Council. Situated 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka and 95 kilometres (59 mi) north of Negombo. Puttalam is known for energy production, salt, coconut production and fishing. It has one of the largest lagoons in the country.

History

The history of Puttalam dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2,500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore to "Thambapani" which is located north side of Puttalam lagoon. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam, Uppu means salt and Thalam means salt production zone, which evolved into the name Puttalam.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Pattalam has a tropical savanna climate with a short dry season from June to September and a second dry season from January to March. The wet season is mainly from October to December. Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with little variations in between.

Climate data for Puttalam
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 33.7
(92.7)		 36.3
(97.3)		 36.5
(97.7)		 37.5
(99.5)		 35.4
(95.7)		 34.9
(94.8)		 35.0
(95)		 34.6
(94.3)		 35.5
(95.9)		 34.5
(94.1)		 33.3
(91.9)		 34.3
(93.7)		 37.5
(99.5)
Average high °C (°F) 30.5
(86.9)		 32.1
(89.8)		 33.2
(91.8)		 33.1
(91.6)		 32.3
(90.1)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.4
(88.5)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.1
(88)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.9
(85.8)		 31.6
(88.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 25.8
(78.4)		 26.8
(80.2)		 28.1
(82.6)		 28.8
(83.8)		 29.0
(84.2)		 28.8
(83.8)		 28.5
(83.3)		 28.5
(83.3)		 28.5
(83.3)		 27.6
(81.7)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.0
(78.8)		 27.8
(82)
Average low °C (°F) 21.0
(69.8)		 21.4
(70.5)		 23.1
(73.6)		 24.5
(76.1)		 25.8
(78.4)		 26.2
(79.2)		 25.6
(78.1)		 25.5
(77.9)		 25.3
(77.5)		 24.1
(75.4)		 22.9
(73.2)		 22.1
(71.8)		 24.0
(75.2)
Record low °C (°F) 16.3
(61.3)		 15.2
(59.4)		 18.4
(65.1)		 20.4
(68.7)		 20.4
(68.7)		 21.0
(69.8)		 21.2
(70.2)		 21.7
(71.1)		 21.4
(70.5)		 19.4
(66.9)		 16.7
(62.1)		 17.6
(63.7)		 15.2
(59.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 55
(2.17)		 40
(1.57)		 66
(2.6)		 176
(6.93)		 95
(3.74)		 42
(1.65)		 16
(0.63)		 16
(0.63)		 64
(2.52)		 238
(9.37)		 249
(9.8)		 138
(5.43)		 1,195
(47.05)
Average relative humidity (%) 70 66 67 71 74 73 73 73 72 75 76 75 72
Source: NOAA [1]

Religion

Urban areas are dominated by Muslims(95%) while Buddhists and Christians are residing outside the town. Hindus are minority. All religious places are available in the town as well as outside the town.

Transport

Puttalam has 3 main highways that connect it to major cities in the country. A3 which connects Puttalam with Colombo via Negombo. A10 which connects Puttalam with Kandy via Kurunegala. A12 which connects Puttalam with Trincomalee via Anuradhapura.

Daily bus transport is available to the capital Colombo and other cities like Kurunegala, Kandy and Anuradhapura. There is a train service between Puttalam to Colombo via Negombo.

Economy

Situated at the center of the Coconut Triangle, Puttalam is the second largest Coconut producer of the country with Muslim Moors dominating this production process.

Puttalam is also the second largest salt producer in the country.

Puttalam hosts one of the largest cement factories in the country: Holcim Cement factory.

Puttalam is also famous for Shrimp farming and Agriculture.

Puttalam is now the first place in Sri Lanka to host a Crab farm and hatchery run by a Singapore-based company.

Education

Puttalam has four main schools

Puttalam also has an Open University.

Energy

Seguwantivu Wind Power (Private) Limited an Indian firm invests US$37 million and maintains 25 wind turbines which produce 20 MW s of electricity in Puttalam Seguwantivu region.

Norocholai Power Station is a large coal-fired power station in Norocholai, Puttalam, Sri Lanka. Construction of the facility began on 11 May 2006, and concluded with the commissioning on 22 March 2011. The first 300-megawatt phase was completed and ceremonially commissioned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 22 March 2011 at 18:27 local time, with the presence of deputy Minister of Energy Premalal Jayasekara. According to the Ceylon Electricity Board, the US$455 million first phase generates nearly 1.7 TWh of electricity annually; a very significant amount when compared to Sri Lanka's total production of 11.5 TWh in 2011. The plant is connected to the grid via 115 km (71 mi) 220-kilovolt transmission line to Veyangoda. Power station exhausts are emitted through a 150 m (492 ft) tall chimney, one of the country's tallest man-made structures. During its pre-development stages, a number of protests were launched by residents living at the project site, claiming that they were deceived by the government. Construction of the 600 MW Phase-1 and Phase-2 units were officially inaugurated by the President in March 2010.

Sport

Cricket is the most popular sport as it is the most popular sport in the country and many play cricket.

Soccer is played widely in Puttalam with many local clubs having been formed and many compete in the national league.

Volleyball is also famous in the town and there are volleyball clubs in Puttalam.

References

  1. ↑ "Puttalam Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 29, 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 08, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.