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'Galle' (ගාල්ල in Sinhala; காலி in Tamil) (pronounced as one syllable, rhyming with "Gaul" in English, in Sinhalese, IPA [gaːlːə]) is a town situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle was known as ''Gimhathiththa'' (although Ibn Batuta in the 14th century refers to it as ''Qali'') before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island. Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, before the arrival of the British, who developed the harbor at Colombo.
Galle lies in Galle District.
On 26 December, 2004 the city was devastated by the massive Boxing Day Tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that occurred a thousand miles away, off the coast of Indonesia. Thousands were killed in the city alone.
Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in south and southeast Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and south Asian traditions. Galle fort is a world heritage site and the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers. Other prominent landmarks in Galle include St. Mary's Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests.
Galle is the main town in the most southerly part of the island, with a population of around 100,000, and is connected by rail to Colombo and Matara. It is home to a cricket ground, the Galle International Stadium, where test matches are played.
Rumassala Kanda is a large mound-like hill, which forms the eastern protective barrier to the Galle harbour. Local tradition associates this hill with some events of the Ramayana.

Contents

History

Demographics

Universities

Schools

Twin cities

See also

External links

History

According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Certainly, cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and the root of the word itself is Hebrew, so Galle may have been the main entrepot for the spice.

Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays and Indians were doing business through Galle port. The "modern" history of Galle starts in 1505, when the first Portuguese ship, under Lourenço de Almeida was driven there by a storm. However, the people of the city refused to let the Portuguese enter it, so the Portuguese took it by force.
In 1640, the Portuguese had to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present Fort in the year 1663. They built a fortified wall, using solid granite, and built three bastions, known as "sun", "moon" and "star".


After the British took over the country from the Dutch in the year 1796, they preserved the Fort unchanged, and used it as the administrative centre of Galle.

Demographics

Galle is sizeable town, by Sri Lankan standards, and has a population of 90,934, the majority of whom are of Sinhalese ethnicity; there is a large Sri Lankan Moor minority who descend from Arab traders that established the ancient port of Galle.

Ethnicity	Population	% Of Total
Sinhalese	66,114	72.71
Sri Lankan Tamils	989	1.09
Indian Tamils	255	0.28
Sri Lankan Moors	23,234	25.56
Other (including Burgher, Malay)	342	0.38
Total	90,934	100

Source: 2001 Census

Universities

Two main faculties of University of Ruhuna are located in Galle. Faculty of Engineering is located at Hapugala about 5 km from the city center. The faculty of Medicine is located at Karapitiya near the Karapitiya Hospital.

★ Faculty Of Engineering visit

★ Faculty of Medicine visit

Schools

★ Malharus Sulhiya National School (Tamil & Sinhala Medium)

★ Muslim Ladis College (Tamil & Sinhala Medium)

★ Richmond College (established in 1876) Richmond College Website

★ Vidayaloka College

★ Mahinda College (established in 1892) Mahinda College Website

★ St.Aloysious College (established in 1895)

★ Southlands College (Southland Balika)

★ Sacred Heart Convent

★ Sangamitta College

★ Rippon College

★ Nagoda National Royal College

★ All Saints College (established in 1867)

★ Siridamma College

★ Christ Church Girls' College(established in 1888)

★ Olcot Mix College

★ G/Battemulla Maha Vidyalaya,Imaduwa

Twin cities

The City of Galle is twinned with:

★ - Velsen, The Netherlands ★ - Melbourne, Australia (after the 2004 tsunami disaster Melbourne adopted Galle in order to fund the reconstruction of its cricket ground)

See also

★ Tsunami

★ Place names in Sri Lanka

External links

★ Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications, UNESCO World Heritage

★ Official website of the Sri Lanka Tourism Board

★ Galle

★ Galle Location Details

★ Maritime Archaeology & History of Sri Lanka

★ Audio interview with Galle resident about life in Galle

★ Search for Galle properties

★ The Walled City - Galle

★ CPAmedia Historic Galle

★ The "Duyfken" in Galle, Sri Lanka

★ A Historic tour through the city of Galle

★ The old world's romantic city: Galle!

★ Galle - A Port City in History

★ Down South