'''Ratnapuraරත්නපුරය''' ({{lang-si|රත්නපුර}}; {{lang-ta|இரத்தினபுரி}}) ("City of Gems" in [[Sinhalese language|Sinhala]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]]) is the name of the provincialශ්රි capitalලංකවේ ofසබරගමුව [[Sabaragamuwaපලතේ Province]]ප්රධාන ofප්රදේශය [[Sriහා Lanka]]රත්නපුර andදිස්ත්රික්කයේ theනගරය [[Ratnapuraපිහිටි District]]ප්රදේශයේ in which the town isනම situatedරත්නපුරයයි. Some say the modern name is derived from the Portuguese name [[Rapadura]] for [[jaggery]], the palm candy produced traditionally in this region, but the more common explanation in Sri Lanka is that it comes from the Sinhala "ratna" meaning gems and "pura" meaning city.<ref>Ariyaratna, D. H., President of the Sri Lanka Gem Association of the UK, Gems of Sri Lanka, 6th revised edition, 2006, self-published, p. 31.</ref> Ratnapura is also spelled as Rathnapura. Located[[කොළඹ්න්]] someඊසාන දෙසට කිලොමීටර 101 kmsouthදුරින් eastපිහිටා ofතියෙනවා. [[Colombo]], it is the centre of a long-established industry of precious stone mining including [[ruby|rubies]], [[sapphire]]s, and other gems. Apart from gem mining, the town is known for [[rice]] and fruit cultivations. Large plantations of [[tea]] and [[rubber]] surround the town. Tea grown in this region is called low-country tea. There is a well-established tourism industry in Ratnapura. [[Sinharaja Forest Reserve]], [[Udawalawe National Park]], [[Kitulgala]], and [[Adam's Peak]] are especially popular among tourists. In 1901, the town of Ratnapura had a population of 4,084, and in 2001, it had increased to 46,309. The population of the Ratnapura district was 1,008,164 in 2001, and this consisted of 86.42% [[Buddhist]]s and 9.88% [[Hindus]], with the rest of the population being Christians and Muslims.
