Ratnapura

Ratnapura lies in Sri Lanka's wet southwestern interior, amid river valleys and wooded hills. The region is especially known for its tradition of gemstone mining, which depends on labour and knowledge of water and river sediments. Cultivation and routes through the interior also connect local communities with wider markets.

During the late medieval and early modern centuries, rival kingdoms existed on Sri Lanka, and Portuguese and Dutch powers later controlled parts of its coast. The inland Kandyan kingdom maintained changing relationships with these outside powers before British expansion in the early nineteenth century. Ratnapura's gem-mining tradition offers one way to understand its local economy.