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{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" ! colspan="2" align=center bgcolor="#DEFFAD"|Statistics |- ||Capital:||Ayutthaya |- ||Area:||valign=top|2,556.6 km²
Ranked 62nd |- ||Inhabitants:||valign=top|727,277 (2000)
Ranked 32nd |- ||Pop. density:||valign=top|284 inh./km²
Ranked 10th |- ||ISO 3166-2:||TH-14 |- !colspan="2" align=center bgcolor="#DEFFAD"|Map |- |colspan="2" align=center|
|}Ayutthaya (full name Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thai พระนครศรีอยุธยา, pronounced eye-you-TEE-a) is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Ang Thong, Lopburi, Saraburi, Pathumthani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom and Suphanburi.
The name Ayutthaya derives from the Ayodhya of the Ramayana epic.
Geography
Ayutthaya is located in the flat river plain of the Chao Phraya river valley. Additional the Lopburi and Pasak make the province a major rice farming area.
History
Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand (then called Siam) from 1350 until it was sacked by the Burmese army in 1767. This period of Thai history is now usually referred as the Ayutthaya period or Ayutthaya kingdom. The ruins of the old capital in the Ayutthaya historical park are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Symbols
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According to legend King Ramathibodi I found a beautiful conch buried in the ground, and chose the site as the place for his future capital. He then placed the conch on a pedestral tray and built a pavilion around it. The seal shows this pavilion with the provincial tree behind it.
The provincial flower is Sesbania aculeata, and the provincial tree is the Fragrant Manjack (Cordia dichotoma). The city's slogan can be translated as "ancient city of plenty, poetry and patriotism". |
Administrative divisions
The province is subdivided into sixteen districts (amphoe), 209 tambons and 1,706 villages.
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