Create account Log in Article Talk Read Edit More Search Celebrate the Great American Wiknic in 15+ cities around July 6! Colombo Main page Contents From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Coordinates: 6°56′04″N 79°50′34″E Featured content Current events Not to be confused with Columbo. Random article For other uses, see Colombo (disambiguation). Donate to Wikipedia Colombo (Sinhala: ෙකාළඹ, pronounced [ˈkolombo]; Tamil: ெகா ) is the Wikimedia Shop Colombo Interaction largest city of Sri Lanka, with a population of 4,575,000 metropolitan ෙකාළඹ [2][dubious – discuss] [1] ெகா Help area, and 555,031 in the city limits. It is located on the About Wikipedia west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (which is Metropolis Community portal the official capital of Sri Lanka) suburb or the parliament capital of Sri Lanka. Recent changes Colombo is also the administrative capital of Western Province, Sri Lanka and Contact page the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is often referred to as the Tools capital since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo. What links here Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial Related changes buildings and ruins[3] It was the political capital of Sri Lanka, before Sri Upload file Jayawardenepura Kotte. Special pages Permanent link Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea Page information trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. It was Data item made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire Cite this page in 1815,[4] and its status as capital was retained when the nation became Print/export independent in 1948. In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Create a book Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial Download as PDF capital of Sri Lanka. Printable version Like many cities, Colombo's urban area extends well beyond the boundaries Languages of a single local authority, encompassing other municipal and urban councils Afrikaans such as Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council, Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, Kolonnawa Urban Council and Kotikawatte اﻟﻌرﺑﯾﺔ Azərbaycanca Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha. The main city is home to a majority of Sri বাংলা Lanka's corporate offices, restaurants and entertainment venues.[5] Famous Bân-lâm-gú landmarks in Colombo include the Galle Face Green, the Viharamahadevi Беларуская Park, Mount Lavinia beach as well as the National Museum. Български བོད་ཡིག Contents Clockwise from top left: BOC Tower, Colombo Skyline, Bosanski Colombo Skyline (Gangaramaya Temple), Colombo Brezhoneg 1 Etymology Skyline (Galle Face), Old Parliament, Colombo Skyline Català 2 History (Gangaramaya Temple), BOC Tower and WTC Twin Čeština 2.1 Ancient Era Tower, Independence Square, WTC Twin Tower ChiShona 2.2 Portuguese Era Cymraeg 2.3 Dutch Era Dansk 2.4 British era Deutsch 2.5 After independence ް ަ ެ ސބހި ވދި 3 Geography and climate Eesti 4 Attractions Ελληνικά 5 Demographics Español Seal Esperanto 6 Government and politics converted by Web2PDFConvert.com Esperanto Euskara 6.1 Local government National capital 6.2 ﻓﺎرﺳﯽ Fiji Hindi 7 City limits Français 8 Suburbs Frysk 9 Economy Gàidhlig 10 Law enforcement and crime Galego 11 Infrastructure ગુજરાતી 11.1 Harbour 한국어 11.2 Transport Հայերեն 11.3 Landmarks िहदी Hrvatski 12 Education Ido 13 Architecture Bahasa Indonesia 13.1 Colombo Fort Colombo Interlingue 13.2 Dutch-era buildings Ирон 13.3 British-era buildings Italiano 14 Culture Annual cultural events and fairs 14.1 עברית ಕನಡ 14.2 Performing arts ქართული 14.3 Museums and art collections Kiswahili Location in Sri Lanka 14.4 Sports Kreyòl ayisyen Coordinates: 6°56′04″N 79°50′34″E Latina 14.5 Media Latviešu 15 Twin towns – Sister cities Country Sri Lanka 16 Gallery Province Western Province Lëtzebuergesch District Colombo District Lietuvių 17 See also Lumbaart 18 Notes and references Government • Municipal Colombo Municipal Magyar 19 Further reading Council Council Malagasy • Headquarters Town Hall മലയാളം • Mayor Mohommad Muzammil मराठी Etymology [edit] (UNP) Монгол Area The name "Colombo", first introduced by the • Metropolis 37.31 km2 (14.4 sq mi) Nederlands Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived Elevation 1 m (3 ft) 日本語 from the classical Sinhalese name ෙකාෙලා [1] Norsk bokmål Population (2011 ) ෙතාට Kolon thota, meaning "port on the river • Metropolis 555,031 Norsk nynorsk Kelani".[6] • Density 17,344/km2 Novial (44,920/sq mi) Occitan Another belief is that the name is derived from • Metro 4,575,000 (2,014 the Sinhalese name ෙකාල-අඹ-ෙතාට Kola-amba- estimate) ਪੰਜਾਬੀ thota which means "Harbour with leafy mango Time zone SLST (UTC+05:30) Piemontèis trees".[5] Postal code 0xxxx Polski Area code(s) 011 Português The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Coat of arms of Website www.cmc.lk Română Colombo from the Dutch Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century wrote Русский Ceylon era, depicting a about a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhalese. It lists naramba (to see) संकतम mango tree. ृ ् and kolamba (ford or habor) as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba may also be the Scots [7][8] Sicilianu source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo. ංහල Simple English History [edit] Slovenčina Soomaaliga As Colombo possesses a natural harbour, it was known to Indian, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs, and Chinese traders Српски / srpski over 2,000 years ago. Traveller Ibn Batuta who visited the island in the 14th century, referred to it as Kalanpu.[9] Muslim Srpskohrvatski / Moors whose prime interests were trade began to settle in Colombo around the 8th century AD mostly because the port српскохрватски helped their business and controlled much of the trade between the Sinhalese kingdoms and the outside world. Their Suomi [4][10] Svenska descendants now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community. Tagalog தமி Ancient Era [edit] ెలగ The first ever mention of Sri Lanka is seen in the great Indian epic Ramayana and also Mahabharat,The fortress was situated ไทย on a plateau between three mountain peaks known as the Trikuta Mountains. The ancient City of Lankapura is thought to Тоҷикӣ Türkçe have been burnt down by Lord Hanuman. After the King Ravana was killed by Lord Rama with the help of the former's brother Українська Vibhishana, Vibhishana was crowned King of Lankapura by Lord Rama after which he ruled the kingdom. The mythological Lankapuri or lanka is identified today as Sri Lanka.Lanka was originally ruled by a Rakshasa named Sumali (as per اردو Uyghurche Ramayana). Later it was taken by Visarvana (Kubera) who was a Yaksha. From him, Rakshasa Ravana, took the rulership of / ﺋۇﯾﻐۇرﭼﮫ Vèneto Lanka. Rama killed Ravana and installed his brother Vibhishana on the throne of Lanka. According to both the Ramayana Tiếng Việt and the Mahabharata, the Yaksha king Vaisravana alias Kubera was the ruler of Lanka. His capital was guarded by Winaray Rakshasas. His half-brother Ravana (son of the sage Vishravaya and Sumali's daughter) fought with Kubera in battle and 粵語 obtained the sovereignty of Lanka from him. Ravana ruled Lanka as the king of Rakshasas. Having slain the king of the converted by Web2PDFConvert.com 中文 obtained the sovereignty of Lanka from him. Ravana ruled Lanka as the king of Rakshasas. Having slain the king of the Edit links Rakshasas, viz Ravana, with his brother Kumbhakarna, and sons and kindred, Rama installed in the kingdom of Lanka the Rakshasa chief, Vibhishana, pious, and reverent, and kind to devoted dependents. The battle in Lanka is depicted in a famous bas-relief in the 12th century Khmer temple of Angkor Wat. Portuguese Era [edit] Portuguese explorers led by Dom Lourenço de Almeida first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505. During their initial visit they made a treaty with the King of Kotte Parakramabahu VIII (1484–1508) enabling them to trade in the islands' crop of cinnamon, which lay along the coastal areas of the island, including in Colombo.[11] As part of the treaty, the Portuguese were given full authority over the coastline in exchange for the promise of guarding the coast against invaders. They were allowed to establish a trading post in Colombo.[11] Within a short time, however, they then expelled the Muslim inhabitants of Colombo and began to build a fort there in 1517. The Portuguese soon realized that control of Sri Lanka was necessary for protection of their coastal establishments in India and they began to manipulate the rulers of the Kotte kingdom to gain control of the area. After skilfully exploiting rivalries within the royal family, they took control of a large area of the kingdom and the Sinhalese King Mayadunne established a new kingdom at Sitawaka, a domain in the Kotte kingdom.[11] Before long he annexed much of the Kotte kingdom and forced the Portuguese to retreat to Colombo, which was repeatedly besieged by Mayadunne and the later kings of Sitawaka, forcing them to seek reinforcement from their major base in Goa, India. Following the fall of the kingdom in 1593, the Portuguese were able to establish complete control over the coastal area, with Colombo as their capital.[11][12] This part of Colombo is still known as Fort and houses the presidential palace and the majority of Colombo's five star hotels. The area immediately outside Fort is known as Pettah (Sinhala ට ෙකාව piṭa koṭuva, "outer fort") and is a commercial hub. Dutch Era [edit] In 1638 the Dutch signed a treaty with King Rajasinha II of Kandy which assured the king assistance in his war against the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly of the island's major trade goods.