The capital city of Hambantota district, it is also one of the cities which hosted the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium was especially constructed to host the two matches that were scheduled to be played in Hambantota. The city has been undergoing a lot of infrastructural changes to host the other world class events. It is also one of the candidates bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth games. The 2004 tsunami effected this area as well, and that too majorly. This city was once a part of the Kingdom of Ruhun. But now, the old & new structures stand besides each other talking us through the eras as lived by the city. Hambantota boasts of the only Wind farm in the country. The city is under major facelift and the Hambantota International airport is also under construction in the town of Matala. Also a new international port, i.e the Port of Hambantota, is scheduled to be constructed. To support these, in 2006, a board gauge railway on Matara-Kataragama Railway Line was started.
