Sister Cities of the World

Sister cities of Beruwala

Beruwala, is a town in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar, a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.

Beruwala is also home to Al- Fasiyatul Nasriya Muslim Balika Maha Vidyalaya, which is the first and oldest girls school in Sri Lanka. It was damaged by the tsunami on boxing day 2004.

Beruwala is the starting point of the 130 kilometres (81 miles) long stretch of beach. In the past few years great strides have been made in the field of resort development in this area. The bay around remains ideal for bathing almost for the whole year.

Content on this page is licensed under CC-BY-SA from the authors of the following Wikipedia pages: List of twin towns and sister cities in Asia, Beruwala. Note that the data on Wikipedia is highly unreliable. In many cases, sister cities are missing or wrongly listed. Some cities also have different levels of partnership. If you find an error, please make a correction on the relevant Wikipedia pages and cite your sources.