Kurunegala

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Kurunegala කුරුණෑගල குருணாகல்
City
Kurunegala
Seal
Nickname(s):  Ethugalpura (ඇතුගල්පුර) Hasthi Shailapura (හස්ති ශෛලපුර)
Kurunegala Location of Kurunegala within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 7°29′N 80°22′E / 7.483°N 80.367°E / 7.483; 80.367
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	North Western Province, Sri Lanka
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• Mayor	Thushara Sanjeewa
Area
• Total	11 km2 (4 sq mi)
Elevation	116 m (381 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	30,315
• Density	2,817/km2 (7,300/sq mi)
Demonym	Kurunegalians
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone)
Postal code	60000
Area code	037
Website	http://www.kurunegala.mc.gov.lk

Kurunegala (Sinhala: කුරුණෑගල, Tamil: குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 14th century. It is at the junction of several main roads linking to other important parts of the country. It is about 94 kilometres (58 mi) from Colombo, 42 kilometres (26 mi) from Kandy and 51 kilometres (32 mi) from Matale.

Located at an altitude of 116 metres (381 ft) above sea level, Kurunegala is surrounded by coconut plantations and rubber estates. There are eight very noticeable large rocks that encircle and dominate the city. Kurunegala's rocks rise from the plain below and have characteristic names, six of which come from the animals that they are imagined to represent. The largest among them is Ethagala or the "Elephant Rock" (though the translation is actually tusker), reaches 325 metres (1,066 ft). The shape of Ethagala resembles an elephant.