CONSERVATION OF THE SACRED CITY OF ANURADHAPURA WITH REFERENCE TO ITS HISTORIC CULTURAL SETTING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTH CENTRAL PROVINCEOF SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka was divided into nine administrative provinces during the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries.*1 The boundaries of these provinces are extremely arbitrary. One of this is the North Central Province consisting of two districts, viz. Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva.*2 This is the largest province and comprises 16 % of the land area of the country. Another special feature of this province is that it has the largest area under waters compared with other provinces, i.e. 7.5 % of its land area.*3 The province is dry, hot but not humid; the mean annual temperature being 26ºC, the average rainfall being 1500 mm and the average relative humidity being 75%. This is excellent weather conditions in a tropical country. It rains heavily from October to January. The province is the home to 1.1 million (which is 6 % o