Puttalam (Sinhala: පුත්තලම, romanized: Puttalama; Tamil: புத்தளம், romanized: Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam District and governed by an Urban Council.
Puttalam පුත්තලම புத்தளம் | |
---|---|
Town | |
Puttalam පුත්තලම புத்தளம் | |
Coordinates: 08°02′03″N 79°50′07″E / 8.03417°N 79.83528°E | |
Country | Sri Lanka |
Province | North Western |
District | Puttalam District |
Divisional Secretariat | Puttalam Division |
Government | |
• Type | Puttalam Urban Council |
• Chairman | Vacant since May 2021.[1] |
Area | |
• Town | 25.6 km2 (9.9 sq mi) |
• Land | 119.0 km2 (45.9 sq mi) |
• Water | 327 km2 (126 sq mi) |
Population (2012)[2] | |
• Town | 45,511 (Urban Council) |
• Density | 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
• Urban density | 1,778/km2 (4,600/sq mi) |
• Metro | 82,443 (Puttalam Division) |
• Metro density | 471.1/km2 (1,220/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone) |
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 (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 34.4 (93.9) |
36.4 (97.5) |
38.5 (101.3) |
38.5 (101.3) |
36.2 (97.2) |
35.4 (95.7) |
34.9 (94.8) |
35.5 (95.9) |
35.7 (96.3) |
35.5 (95.9) |
34.5 (94.1) |
33.1 (91.6) |
38.5 (101.3) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.7 (87.3) |
32.3 (90.1) |
33.5 (92.3) |
33.2 (91.8) |
32.5 (90.5) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.5 (88.7) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.3 (88.3) |
30.7 (87.3) |
30.0 (86.0) |
31.8 (89.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.2 (79.2) |
27.0 (80.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.9 (84.0) |
29.5 (85.1) |
29.2 (84.6) |
28.9 (84.0) |
28.9 (84.0) |
28.9 (84.0) |
28.1 (82.6) |
27.1 (80.8) |
26.4 (79.5) |
28.1 (82.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.4 (70.5) |
21.7 (71.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.3 (79.3) |
26.2 (79.2) |
25.9 (78.6) |
24.7 (76.5) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.6 (72.7) |
24.5 (76.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | 15.6 (60.1) |
16.2 (61.2) |
17.0 (62.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
19.7 (67.5) |
22.7 (72.9) |
22.0 (71.6) |
22.5 (72.5) |
21.4 (70.5) |
21.3 (70.3) |
17.4 (63.3) |
15.7 (60.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 50.5 (1.99) |
42.1 (1.66) |
56.9 (2.24) |
154.4 (6.08) |
101.8 (4.01) |
32.1 (1.26) |
23.5 (0.93) |
23.3 (0.92) |
69.2 (2.72) |
230.6 (9.08) |
254.6 (10.02) |
143.7 (5.66) |
1,182.6 (46.56) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 5.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 9.5 | 6.5 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 5.8 | 12.8 | 15.3 | 10.8 | 84.7 |
Source: NOAA[3] |
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. [1]
Puttalam also has an Open University.
Puttalam is a multi-cultural and multi-religious town. Islam is major religion in Puttalam town while Buddhist and Christians are significant minorities with a small Hindu population.[10]
Source:statistics.gov.lk
Climate data for Puttalam (1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 35.0 (95.0) |
37.9 (100.2) |
38.5 (101.3) |
38.5 (101.3) |
36.2 (97.2) |
36.1 (97.0) |
36.7 (98.1) |
35.5 (95.9) |
35.7 (96.3) |
35.5 (95.9) |
36.1 (97.0) |
34.6 (94.3) |
38.5 (101.3) |
Mean daily maximum °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 (88.0) |
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 (82.0) |
Mean daily minimum °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) | 15.2 (59.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
14.9 (58.8) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.7 (67.5) |
20.4 (68.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
20.2 (68.4) |
20.4 (68.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
16.7 (62.1) |
16.7 (62.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 55 (2.2) |
40 (1.6) |
66 (2.6) |
176 (6.9) |
95 (3.7) |
42 (1.7) |
16 (0.6) |
16 (0.6) |
64 (2.5) |
238 (9.4) |
249 (9.8) |
138 (5.4) |
1,195 (47.0) |
Average relative humidity (%) (at Daytime) | 70 | 66 | 67 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 72 |
Source 1: NOAA [11] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Department of Meteorology (records up to 2007)[12]
"Puttalam records from 2007 to 2021" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved 25 August 2021. |