Ratnapura city is located in the A4 Highway which connects capital Colombo to Kalmunai in the Eastern Province. Many delicious fruits (like mango and papaya) and vegetables are grown as market products. If many farmers give up on agriculture, it would be harder for farmers to harvest enough food for them and to trade in the markets.
Although rice fields also used to be a common sight around the town, rice cultivation presently faces an uncertain future in Ratnapura because many farmers are giving up their rice cultivation and switching to gem mining which is a more productive way of earning money. Large plantations of tea and rubber surround the town. The city's agricultural industry is also well developed. "Abagahamula Gem Market ","Clock Tower Gem Market ","Demuwamawatha Gem Market " These markets operate in different hours in the day There are three main Gem market places in Ratnapura. After the discovery of world-class alluvial sapphire deposits in the valley of Ilakaka in Madagascar, many Ratnapura merchants travel out of the country to Madagascar to buy gems. This includes neighboring towns like Kalawana, Bogawantalawa, and Ela-era. Some traders go out of the city to buy gems. Large-scale merchants collect gemstones from locals and sell them in the international market. Every day, a large number of traders from suburbs and other towns gather in the town centre to sell or buy gemstones. Among the foreign traders, Thai ( Thailand) traders are in the majority. There are considerable numbers of foreign gem traders in the city too who have recognised the value of the gems found there. Most of the large-scale gem businessmen of Sri Lanka operate from Ratnapura. Gem pits common sights in the surrounding area. The people of the town depends on the gem trade. It was upgraded as a teaching hospital, with the establishment of Medical faculty in Sabaragamuwa university. It is also a post graduate training center for surgical and paediatric pg trainees. It also has two ICU units catering 12 ICU beds at the moment. It has theatre facilities for routine surgeries, and for 24/7 casualties. Ratnapura hospital, upgraded to a Teaching Hospital in early 2019, is equipped with three surgical units, three medical units, two orthopedic units, three Obstetrics and gynaecology units, two paediatrics units, an ENT unit, a neurology unit, a neurosurgical unit, a rheumatology unit, a urosurgical unit, a nephrology unit with dialysing facilities, a dermatology unit, a psychiatric unit, an A&E unit, and a cardiology unit. There were 29,159 registered voters in the 2006 local authorities elections. The council is elected by popular vote and has 15 seats. The city is governed by a municipal council headed by a mayor. In 1901, the town of Ratnapura had a population of 4,084, and by 2012, it had increased to 46,229, with Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims each constituting a significant portion of the population. Nearby Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Udawalawe National Park, Kitulgala, and Adam's Peak are especially popular among tourists. There is a well-established tourism industry in Ratnapura. Tea grown in this region is called low-country tea. Large plantations of tea and rubber surround the city. Apart from gem mining, the city is known for the production of rice and fruit. It is the centre of a long-established industry of precious stone mining including rubies, sapphires, and other gems. While candy produced from the jaggery palm is traditionally known in this region as ratnapura, it is more likely that the candy was named for the locale rather than vice versa. Over 2000 years ago, when the first Buddhist monks arrived here from the north eastern provinces of India namely Bodh-Gaya, Varanasi and Pataliputra, they not only brought with them the Buddhist religion, but since their teachings were mainly in Sanskrit and Pali they also influenced the local language. The name 'Ratnapura' is a Sanskrit word meaning "city of gems", from the Sanskrit words pura (town) and ratna (gemstone). It is located on the Kalu Ganga (Black River) in south-central Sri Lanka, some 101 km (63 mi) southeast of the country's capital, Colombo. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර Tamil: இரத்தினபுரி) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka.