Utrecht Utrecht Utrecht (; ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation and had a population of in . Utrecht's ancient city centre features many buildings and structures several dating as far back as the High Middle Ages. It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. It lost the status of prince-bishopric but remains the main religious centre in the country. Utrecht was the most important city in the Netherlands until the
Central Province, Sri Lanka the east, North Western Province to the west and Sabaragamuwa Province to the south and west. The province's capital is Kandy. The cities of Matale and Nuwara Eliya are in the Central Province. The province is famous for its production of Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. The Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Gampola, Hatton and Nuwara Eliya. Though three successive European powers invaded Sri Lanka during the 16th to the 19th century, the Central Province maintained its independence