The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils.

Originally initiated in 2004 by Ranil Wickremesinghe it was stopped after his election defeat and was restarted again after his return to power in 2015.

It has an area of 3,684 square kilometres (1,422 sq mi), making it the smallest of the country's nine provinces.

[21] The province is undergoing rapid development with several of the largest infrastructure development projects happening in the province such as the Colombo International Financial City(CIFC) which is an International Financial Zone and the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project(WRMPP)[22][23][24][25] Western province is also undergoing a major real estate and construction boom with residential and commercial buildings and skyscrapers changing the skylines of cities such as Colombo and Rajagiriya.

Several major residential, office and hotel buildings as well as resorts and malls are either proposed or under construction.

[26][27][28] The Colombo Harbour is also a major driver of economic growth being the busiest port in South Asia.