Matale District (Sinhala: මාතලේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, Tamil: மாத்தளை மாவட்டம்) is a district in Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its area is 1,987 km².

The population according to 2001 census is 441,328. 80.1 % of the population are Sinhalese, 8.7 % Sri Lankan Moors, 5.5 % native Sri Lankan tamils and 5.3 % tamils of Indian origin. 79 % of the population are Buddhists, 9.6 % Hindu, 9.1 % Muslim and 2.3 % Christian.

Coordinates: 7°28′N 80°37′E / 7.467°N 80.617°E / 7.467; 80.617

Matale is a town in the hill country of Sri Lanka, 142 kilometres (88 mi) from Colombo and 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Kandy. It is an area steeped in history and village living. The mayor of Matale is Hilmy Careem, as of May, 2006.

The Matale administrative district also contains the historic Sigiriya rock castle, Aluwihara rock cave temple and Dambulla Cave Temple. Surrounding the town are the Knuckles foothills called Wiltshire. It is a mainly agricultural area, where tea, rubber, vegetable and spice cultivation dominate. The Knuckles Mountain Range is a special landmark of Matale.

The Aluvihara Temple, on the North side of the town, is the historic location where the Pali Canon was first written down completely in text on ola (palm) leaves. Situated near Aluvihara are numerous monastery caves, some of which exhibit fine frescoes.ex:- The Embiliviharaya temple at Hulangamuwa, The Watagoda Temple, The Kawatayamuna temple

Matale was a site of a major battle in 1848 when the Matale Rebellion started and the British garrison in the Fort Macdowall in Matale was placed under siege by the rebels led by Weera Puran Appu & Gongalegoda Banda who are renowned national heroes in Sri Lanka.

Percy Mahendra "Mahinda" Rajapaksa (Sinhala: මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ,pronounced [maˈhində ˈraːɟəˌpakʂə]), Tamil: மகிந்த ராசபக்ச; born November 18, 1945) is the 6th President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and served as prime minister from April 6, 2004 until his victory in the 2005 Presidential election. He was sworn in for a six-year term as president on November 19, 2005. He was re-elected for a second term in office on January 27, 2010.

Rajapaksa was born in Weerakatiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota. He hails from a well known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. D.M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Councillor for Hambantota in the 1930s who started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan (finger millet) cultivated by the people of his area, whose cause he championed throughout his life. It is from his example that Rajapaksa wears his characteristic shawl.