North Central Province ( Uturumæda Paḷāta, Wada Maththiya Mākāṇam) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since 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 the largest by size, and second least populated in the country. The province consists of the districts of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, both of which were important ancient Sri Lankan kingdoms. The climate is semi-arid, and the forests are dry evergreen forests. History The centralised system of Sri Lanka, which is a unitary state, failed to satisfy the aspirations of the people. There was growing insistence on decentralisation of administrative processes to achieve rapid economic and social development of the country. In the Sri Lankan context, devolution means the transferring of political and administrative decision-making authority from the central government to elected bodies at the lower levels. Demographics Employment Provincial council The provincial council is the main administrative and control body in the North Central Province, which is the largest province in the country covering 16% of the country's total land area. It consists two districts, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapure; Anuradhapure is the largest district in the country. The province is also called Wew Bendi Rajje because there are more than 3000 medium and large scale tanks situated in the province. More than 65% of the province’s people depend on basic agriculture and agricultural based industries. North Central Province has numerous potential for investors to start their businesses, specially agriculture, agricultural based industries and livestock sectors. Administrative divisions The North Central Province is divided into two districts and 29 divisional secretariats. Districts Divisional secretariats Municipal Councils Towns Aralaganwila Bakamuna Eppawala Giritale Habarana Hingurakgoda Horowpothana Kahatagasdigiliya Kebithigollewa Kekirawa Mahailuppallama Manampitiya Maradankadawala Medawachchiya Mihintale Minneriya Nochchiyagama Padaviya Polonnaruwa-Kaduruwela Rambewa Thalawa Thambuttegama Welikanda Education Anuradhapura Anuradhapura Central College Niwaththaka Chethiya National School. Anuradhapura Anuradhapura Technical College Buddhsravaka Bhiksu University K. B. Rathnayake MW Open University of Sri Lanka Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education St. Joseph's College Teachers Training School University College of Anuradhapura (University of Vocational Technology) Polonnaruwa Polonnaruwa Royal Central College Pulathisipura National College of Education Technical College-Polonnaruwa See also Provinces of Sri Lanka Districts of Sri Lanka List of schools in North Central Province, Sri Lanka References