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Jaffna District

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Jaffna District (யாழ்ப்பாணம் மாவட்டம் Yāḻppāṇam Māvaṭṭam; යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය yāpanaya distrikkaya) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previously known as a Government Agent) appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Jaffna.

History[]

Between the 5th century BC and the 13th century AD present day Jaffna District was part of various Kingdoms such as Pandya, Chola, Pallava, Kalinga, Rajarata. Jaffna District was thereafter part of the pre-colonial Jaffna kingdom.[1] The district then came under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. In 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic-based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. Jaffna District was part of the Tamil administration. In 1833, in accordance with the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the ethnic based administrative structures were unified into a single administration divided into five geographic provinces.[2] Jaffna District, together with Mannar District and Vanni District, formed the new Northern Province.[3] At the time that Ceylon gained independence, Jaffna was one of the three districts located in the Northern Province. Parts of the district were transferred to newly created Mullaitivu District in September 1978. Kilinochchi District was carved out of the southern part of Jaffna District in February 1984. Template:Clear left

Geography[]

Jaffna District is located in the far north of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province and occupies most of the Jaffna Peninsula. It has an area of Template:Convert.[4] It is divided into four areas geographically:

  • Thenmarachchi or Thenmaradchi
  • Vadamarachchi or Vadamaradchi
  • Valikamam
  • Jaffna Islands

Administrative units[]

Jaffna District is divided into 15 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).[5] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 435 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).[5]

DS Division Main Town Divisional Secretary GN
Divisions
[5] 		Area
(km2)
[5][6] 		Population (2012 Census)[7] Population
Density
(/km2)
Sri Lankan
Tamil		 Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors Indian
Tamil		 Other Total
Delft A. Siri 6 45 3,780 38 0 1 0 3,819 85
Islands North Kayts Anton Yoganayagam 15 30 9,846 129 3 19 0 9,997 333
Islands South Velanai Manchulathevi Satheesan 30 78 16,379 6 125 15 0 16,525 212
Jaffna Jaffna Sugunarathy Theivendram 28 17 48,413 504 1,682 104 56 50,759 2,986
Karainagar Karainagar Thevanthini Babu 9 22 9,533 0 0 9 2 9,544 434
Nallur Nallur Palasingam Senthilnanthanan 40 38 67,777 199 45 21 6 68,048 1,791
Thenmarachchi Chavakachcheri Anjalidevi Santhaseelan 60 221 64,162 247 62 169 45 64,685 293
Vadamarachchi East Maruthankerney Nadarajah Thirulinganathan 18 179 12,718 1 3 16 0 12,738 71
Vadamarachchi North Point Pedro R. T. Jeyaseelan 35 29 47,183 167 12 26 1 47,389 1,634
Vadamarachchi South West Karaveddy S. Sivasri 35 88 45,495 73 18 38 4 45,628 519
Valikamam East Kopay Maruthalingam Pradeepan 31 102 72,908 252 101 35 2 73,298 719
Valikamam North Tellippalai Kanagarajah Shrimohanan 45 57 28,179 1,336 21 4 6 29,546 518
Valikamam South Uduvil M. Nanthagopalan 30 30 52,574 190 44 25 0 52,833 1,761
Valikamam South West Sandilipay Subramaniyam Muralitharan 28 45 52,039 159 18 8 2 52,226 1,161
Valikamam West Chankanai 25 44 46,260 65 5 9 4 46,343 1,053
Total 435 1,025 577,246 3,366 2,139 499 128 583,378 569

Demographics[]

Population[]

Jaffna District's population was 583,378 in 2012.[8] It is one of the most densely populated districts of Sri Lanka. The population of the district is almost exclusively Sri Lankan Tamil.

The population of the district, like the rest of the north and east of Sri Lanka, has been heavily affected by the civil war. The war killed an estimated 100,000 people.[9] Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as one million, emigrated to the West during the war.[10] Many Sri Lankan Tamils also moved to the relative safety of the capital Colombo. Most of the Sri Lankan Moors and Sinhalese who lived in the district fled to other parts of Sri Lanka or were forcibly expelled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Ethnicity[]

Population of Jaffna District by ethnic group 1881 to 2012[8][11][12][13]Template:Efn
Year TamilTemplate:Efn Sinhalese MuslimTemplate:Efn Other Total
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. %
1881 Census 261,902 98.61% 80 0.03% 2,648 1.00% 953 0.36% 265,583
1891 Census 275,227 98.55% 131 0.05% 3,049 1.09% 877 0.31% 279,284
1901 Census 296,805 98.66% 226 0.08% 3,078 1.02% 742 0.25% 300,851
1911 Census 321,908 98.53% 403 0.12% 3,485 1.07% 916 0.28% 326,712
1921 Census 324,874 98.29% 1,042 0.32% 3,748 1.13% 877 0.27% 330,541
1946 Census 413,264 97.29% 4,546 1.07% 5,620 1.32% 1,358 0.32% 424,788
1963 Census 597,920 97.50% 5,630 0.92% 8,600 1.40% 1,080 0.18% 613,230
1971 Census 673,043 95.56% 20,402 2.90% 10,312 1.46% 593 0.08% 704,350
1981 Census 812,247 97.73% 4,615 0.56% 13,757 1.66% 493 0.06% 831,112
1997 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 466,937
1998 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 457,264
1999 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 491,007
2000 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 502,356
2001 EstimateTemplate:Efn 541,133 99.95% 49 0.01% 201 0.04% 0 0.00% 541,383
2002 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 574,164
2003 Estimate 590,299 99.74% 40 0.01% 1,241 0.21% 248 0.04% 591,828
2004 Estimate 583,064 99.73% 88 0.02% 1,384 0.24% 131 0.02% 584,667
2005 Estimate 595,651 99.69% 75 0.01% 1,705 0.29% 69 0.01% 597,500
2006 Estimate 650,339 99.72% 54 0.01% 1,725 0.26% 66 0.01% 652,184
2007 Enumeration 559,188 99.92% 67 0.01% 350 0.06% 14 0.00% 559,619
2008 Estimate 559,665 99.91% 29 0.01% 452 0.08% 50 0.01% 560,196
2009 Estimate 623,841 99.87% 26 0.00% 777 0.12% 0 0.00% 624,644
2011 Enumeration 564,455 99.51% 746 0.13% 1,874 0.33% 154 0.03% 567,229
2012 Census 577,745 99.03% 3,366 0.58% 2,139 0.37% 128 0.02% 583,378

Religion[]

Population of Jaffna District by religion 1971 to 2012[14][15][16][17]
Year Hindu ChristianTemplate:Efn Buddhist Muslim Others Total
No.
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
1971 Census 585,418 83.11% 85,031 12.08% 18,210 2.59% 15,520 2.20% 171 0.02% 704,350
1981 Census 705,705 84.97% 104,766 12.61% 5,104 0.61% 14,844 1.79% 133 0.02% 830,552
2008 Estimate 484,308 86.45% 75,357 13.45% 29 0.01% 452 0.08% 50 0.01% 560,196
2012 Census 483,900 82.95% 94,146 16.14% 2,533 0.43% 2,455 0.42% 344 0.06% 583,378

Politics and government[]

Local government[]

Jaffna District has 17 local authorities of which one is a Municipal Council, three are Urban Councils and the remaining 13 are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).[5]

Local Authority Area
(km2)
[5] 		Population
(2011)
[13] 		Registered
Electors
(2011)Template:Efn 		Elected Members
(2011)Template:Efn
TNATemplate:Efn UPFA UNP Other Total
style="background:Template:Tamil National Alliance/meta/color"| style="background:Template:United People's Freedom Alliance/meta/color"| style="background:Template:United National Party/meta/color"|
Chavakacheri Divisional Council 200.90 48,166 37,015 12 2 1 0 15
Chavakacheri Urban Council 31.29 15,780 10,987 9 2 0 0 11
Delft Divisional Council 47.16 3,861 3,085 1 8 0 0 9
Jaffna Municipal Council 20.20 76,080 100,417 9 13 0 1 23
Karainagar Divisional Council 21.74 9,505 8,140 3 1 1 0 5
Kayts Divisional Council 45.11 10,534 6,349 1 4 0 0 5
Nallur Divisional Council 20.59 36,472 22,012 10 2 0 0 12
Point Pedro Divisional Council 220.00 39,651 25,375 7 2 0 0 9
Point Pedro Urban Council 4.62 12,161 7,376 7 2 0 0 9
Vadamarachchi South West Divisional Council 68.95 45,386 32,539 15 3 0 0 18
Valikamam East Divisional Council 102.20 70,064 46,570 16 5 0 0 21
Valikamam North Divisional Council 58.50 26,049 63,224 15 6 0 0 21
Valikamam South Divisional Council 33.26 51,612 32,857 13 3 0 0 16
Valikamam South West Divisional Council 55.24 50,971 31,022 12 4 0 0 16
Valikamam West Divisional Council 47.30 45,983 30,214 11 3 0 0 14
Valvettithurai Urban Council 5.36 8,382 5,550 7 2 0 0 9
Velanai Divisional Council 94.80 16,572 12,028 3 8 0 0 11
Total 1,077.22 567,229 151 70 2 1 224

Twined Regions[]

On 18 October 2016, Jaffna District twinned with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London.[18] This has been a milestone to build “greater understanding and sharing knowledge” in the fields of governance, healthcare and education.[19]

Notes[]

Template:Notelist

References[]

  1. ↑ Template:Cite book
  2. ↑ Template:Cite book
  3. ↑ Template:Cite book
  4. ↑ Template:Cite web
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Template:Cite web
  6. ↑ Template:Cite web
  7. ↑ Template:Cite web
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Cite web
  9. ↑ Template:Cite web
  10. ↑ Template:Cite news
  11. ↑ Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Template:Cite web
  14. ↑ Template:Cite web
  15. ↑ Template:Cite web
  16. ↑ Template:Cite web
  17. ↑ Template:Cite book
  18. ↑ Template:Cite web
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web

External links[]

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