Tamil Eelam is a region and an independent state aspiration in South Asia. The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for the island of Sri Lanka - Eelam. The area is home to indigenous Tamil people and some other ethnic groups. During the Tamil region's history, it has been an independent country, subordinate to different empires and a part of Sri Lanka for a certain amount of time. Existing as a separate nation for centuries, invasions of the island by European foreign powers transferred sovereignty of the region. A peaceful struggle for a reconstitution of Tamil sovereignty began shortly after the island gained independence from Britain in 1948. An armed quest of Tamil miltancy in the 1980s followed. Today the Tamil territories are administered under ► Sri Lanka. These include the entire districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Mannar, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Amparai districts of the province.
The parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka which were formerly under the control of the LTTE were run as a de facto state with its own government in these areas. The Tamil Tigers military included land and naval (the Sea Tigers) forces and an air wing (Tamil Eelam Air Force)., LTTE ran a judicial system complete with local, supreme and high courts. The US state department alleged that the judges had very little standards or training and acted as agents to the LTTE; it also accused the LTTE of forcing Tamils under their control to accept their judicial system. Furthermore, within areas controlled by the LTTE the Tigers performed state functions, including the operation of a civil police force, Human Rights organizations, offices for the coordination of humanitarian assistance board, health boards and education boards. It also ran a Bank (Bank of Tamil Eelam), a radio station (Voice of Tigers) and a Television station (National Television of Tamil Eelam).
Jaffna District, Kilinochchi District, Mannar District, Mullaitivu District, Vavuniya District, Amparai District, Batticaloa District. Trincomalee Distric, Puthalam district.
Jaffna District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Jaffna.
Year | Tamil[b] | Sinhalese | Muslim[c] | 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 Estimate[d] | 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 |
Kilinochchi District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Kilinochchi.
Year | Tamil[a] | Sinhalese | Muslim[b] | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1981 Census | 89,197 | 97.33% | 741 | 0.81% | 1,567 | 1.71% | 136 | 0.15% | 91,641 |
1999 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 156,428 |
2000 Estimate[c] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 154,015 |
2001 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 148,052 |
2002 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 153,721 |
2003 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 140,145 |
2004 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 140,920 |
2005 Estimate | 165,781 | 99.77% | 2 | 0.00% | 383 | 0.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 166,166 |
2006 Estimate | 196,611 | 99.78% | 2 | 0.00% | 424 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 197,037 |
2007 Estimate | 195,386 | 99.78% | 2 | 0.00% | 424 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 195,812 |
2008 Estimate | 190,599 | 99.78% | 2 | 0.00% | 424 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 191,025 |
2009 Estimate | 22,099 | 93.54% | 1 | 0.00% | 1,525 | 6.46% | 0 | 0.00% | 23,625 |
2011 Enumeration | 102,779 | 99.10% | 138 | 0.13% | 774 | 0.75% | 26 | 0.03% | 103,717 |
2012 Census | 111,210 | 98.52% | 962 | 0.85% | 678 | 0.60% | 25 | 0.02% | 112,875 |
Mannar District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Mannar.
Year | Tamil[a] | Muslim[b] | Sinhalese | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1881 Census | 14,415 | 67.52% | 6,635 | 31.08% | 142 | 0.67% | 156 | 0.73% | 21,348 |
1891 Census | 16,098 | 65.68% | 7,643 | 31.18% | 592 | 2.42% | 178 | 0.73% | 24,511 |
1901 Census | 16,848 | 67.59% | 7,715 | 30.95% | 201 | 0.81% | 162 | 0.65% | 24,926 |
1911 Census | 16,731 | 65.35% | 8,092 | 31.61% | 639 | 2.50% | 141 | 0.55% | 25,603 |
1921 Census | 16,949 | 66.25% | 8,002 | 31.28% | 538 | 2.10% | 93 | 0.36% | 25,582 |
1946 Census | 19,623 | 62.22% | 10,410 | 33.01% | 1,186 | 3.76% | 319 | 1.01% | 31,538 |
1963 Census | 40,140 | 66.70% | 17,260 | 28.68% | 2,262 | 4.35% | 160 | 0.27% | 60,180 |
1971 Census | 53,353 | 68.50% | 20,878 | 26.81% | 3,568 | 4.58% | 83 | 0.11% | 77,882 |
1981 Census | 68,178 | 63.75% | 28,464 | 26.62% | 8,710 | 8.14% | 1,588 | 1.48% | 106,940 |
2000 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 96,667 |
2001 Estimate[c] | 92,911 | 94.84% | 5,038 | 5.14% | 16 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 97,965 |
2002 Estimate | 86,153 | 93.52% | 5,934 | 6.44% | 31 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 92,118 |
2003 Estimate | 92,129 | 93.24% | 6,649 | 6.73% | 35 | 0.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 98,813 |
2004 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 102,135 |
2005 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 103,936 |
2006 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 103,671 |
2007 Estimate | 95,560 | 92.16% | 8,073 | 7.79% | 55 | 0.05% | 0 | 0.00% | 103,688 |
2008 Estimate | 67,503 | 89.11% | 8,214 | 10.84% | 38 | 0.05% | 0 | 0.00% | 75,755 |
2009 Estimate | 80,781 | 85.97% | 13,144 | 13.99% | 36 | 0.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 93,961 |
2011 Enumeration | 78,789 | 82.56% | 16,130 | 16.90% | 455 | 0.48% | 56 | 0.06% | 95,430 |
2012 Census | 80,962 | 81.74% | 16,087 | 16.24% | 1,961 | 1.98% | 41 | 0.04% | 99,051 |
Mullaitivu District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Mullaitivu.
Year | Tamil[a] | Sinhalese | Muslim[b] | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1981 Census | 69,670 | 89.88% | 3,948 | 5.09% | 3,777 | 4.87% | 117 | 0.15% | 77,512 |
1999 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 184,655 |
2000 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 187,281 |
2001 Estimate[c] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 180,401 |
2002 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 144,959 |
2003 Estimate | 140,556 | 99.92% | 23 | 0.02% | 49 | 0.03% | 47 | 0.03% | 140,675 |
2004 Estimate | 152,724 | 99.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 237 | 0.15% | 29 | 0.02% | 152,990 |
2005 Estimate | 157,410 | 99.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 365 | 0.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 157,775 |
2006 Estimate | 214,713 | 99.75% | 1 | 0.00% | 547 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 215,261 |
2007 Estimate | 220,117 | 99.91% | 1 | 0.00% | 193 | 0.09% | 0 | 0.00% | 220,311 |
2008 Estimate[d] | 51,737 | 99.99% | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 0.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 51,741 |
2009 Estimate[e] | 36,741 | 100.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 36,741 |
2011 Enumeration | 60,136 | 90.39% | 3,966 | 5.96% | 2,390 | 3.59% | 34 | 0.05% | 66,526 |
2012 Census | 81,263 | 88.38% | 8,851 | 9.63% | 1,760 | 1.91% | 73 | 0.08% | 91,947 |
Vavuniya District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Vavuniya.
Year | Tamil[a] | Sinhalese | Muslim[b] | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1881 Census | 13,164 | 84.55% | 1,157 | 7.43% | 1,133 | 7.28% | 115 | 0.74% | 15,569 |
1891 Census | 13,030 | 84.06% | 1,199 | 7.73% | 1,139 | 7.35% | 133 | 0.86% | 15,501 |
1901 Census | 12,726 | 83.95% | 1,128 | 7.44% | 1,069 | 7.05% | 236 | 1.56% | 15,159 |
1911 Census | 14,059 | 81.10% | 1,848 | 10.66% | 1,241 | 7.16% | 188 | 1.08% | 17,336 |
1921 Census | 14,978 | 80.07% | 2,215 | 11.84% | 1,345 | 7.19% | 168 | 0.90% | 18,706 |
1946 Census | 17,071 | 73.44% | 3,870 | 16.65% | 2,153 | 9.26% | 152 | 0.65% | 23,246 |
1963 Census | 51,410 | 75.05% | 12,020 | 17.55% | 4,900 | 7.15% | 170 | 0.25% | 68,500 |
1971 Census | 73,010 | 76.42% | 15,541 | 16.27% | 6,665 | 6.98% | 320 | 0.33% | 95,536 |
1981 Census | 73,133 | 76.26% | 15,876 | 16.55% | 6,640 | 6.92% | 255 | 0.27% | 95,904 |
1990 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 129,895 |
1998 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 129,655 |
1999 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 132,737 |
2000 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 145,159 |
2001 Estimate[c] | 123,268 | 88.64% | 12,159 | 8.45% | 8,471 | 5.89% | 42 | 0.03% | 143,940 |
2002 Estimate | 121,635 | 84.34% | 13,196 | 9.15% | 9,389 | 6.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 144,220 |
2003 Estimate | 123,704 | 83.99% | 14,386 | 9.77% | 9,192 | 6.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 147,292 |
2004 Estimate | 127,604 | 84.43% | 14,699 | 9.73% | 8,839 | 5.85% | 0 | 0.00% | 151,142 |
2005 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 180,949 |
2006 Estimate | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 182,808 |
2007 Estimate | 157,917 | 86.27% | 13,535 | 7.39% | 11,594 | 6.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 183,046 |
2008 Estimate | 152,927 | 86.67% | 13,423 | 7.61% | 10,090 | 5.72% | 0 | 0.00% | 176,440 |
2009 Estimate | 179,850 | 86.93% | 16,177 | 7.82% | 10,858 | 5.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 206,885 |
2011 Enumeration | 136,665 | 82.90% | 16,555 | 10.04% | 11,491 | 6.97% | 141 | 0.09% | 164,852 |
2012 Census | 142,561 | 83.12% | 17,191 | 10.02% | 11,700 | 6.82% | 59 | 0.03% | 171,511 |
Ampara District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Ampara. The district was carved out of the southern part of Batticaloa District in April 1961.
Year | Sri Lankan Moor | Sinhalese | Sri Lankan Tamil | Indian Tamil | Other | Total No. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1963 Census | 97,621 | 46.11% | 61,996 | 29.28% | 49,185 | 23.23% | 1,312 | 0.62% | 1,618 | 0.76% | 211,732 |
1971 Census | 126,365 | 46.35% | 82,280 | 30.18% | 60,519 | 22.20% | 1,771 | 0.65% | 1,670 | 0.61% | 272,605 |
1981 Census | 161,568 | 41.54% | 146,943 | 37.78% | 77,826 | 20.01% | 1,411 | 0.36% | 1,222 | 0.31% | 388,970 |
2001 Census | 244,620 | 41.25% | 236,583 | 39.90% | 109,188 | 18.41% | 715 | 0.12% | 1,891 | 0.32% | 592,997 |
2007 Enumeration | 268,630 | 43.99% | 228,938 | 37.49% | 111,948 | 18.33% | 58 | 0.01% | 1,145 | 0.19% | 610,719 |
2012 Census | 282,484 | 43.59% | 251,018 | 38.73% | 112,750 | 17.40% | 165 | 0.03% | 1,640 | 0.25% | 648,057 |
Batticaloa District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Batticaloa. Ampara District was carved out of the southern part of Batticaloa District in April 1961.
Year | Tamil[a] | Muslim[b] | Sinhalese | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1881 Census | 61,014 | 57.80% | 37,255 | 35.29% | 5,012 | 4.75% | 2,277 | 2.16% | 105,558 |
1891 Census | 69,584 | 56.71% | 44,780 | 36.50% | 6,403 | 5.22% | 1,932 | 1.57% | 122,699 |
1901 Census | 79,857 | 55.01% | 54,190 | 37.33% | 7,575 | 5.22% | 3,539 | 2.44% | 145,161 |
1911 Census | 83,948 | 54.53% | 60,695 | 39.43% | 5,771 | 3.75% | 3,529 | 2.29% | 153,943 |
1921 Census | 84,665 | 53.35% | 63,146 | 39.79% | 7,243 | 4.56% | 3,655 | 2.30% | 158,709 |
1946 Census | 102,264 | 50.33% | 85,805 | 42.23% | 11,850 | 5.83% | 3,267 | 1.61% | 203,186 |
1953 Census | 130,381 | 48.20% | 106,706 | 39.45% | 31,174 | 11.52% | 2,232 | 0.83% | 270,493 |
1963 Census[c] | 141,110 | 71.93% | 46,038 | 23.47% | 6,715 | 3.42% | 2,326 | 1.19% | 196,189 |
1971 Census | 181,527 | 70.71% | 60,889 | 23.72% | 11,548 | 4.50% | 2,757 | 1.07% | 256,721 |
1981 Census | 237,787 | 71.98% | 78,829 | 23.86% | 11,255 | 3.41% | 2,462 | 0.75% | 330,333 |
2001 Census[13] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
2007 Enumeration | 381,984 | 74.05% | 128,964 | 25.00% | 2,397 | 0.46% | 2,512 | 0.49% | 515,857 |
2012 Census | 382,300 | 72.80% | 133,844 | 25.49% | 6,127 | 1.17% | 2,871 | 0.55% | 525,142 |
Trincomalee District 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 appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Trincomalee.
Year | Muslim[a] | Tamil[b] | Sinhalese | Other | Total No. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | ||
1827 | 3,245 | 16.94% | 15,663 | 81.76% | 250 | 1.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 19,158 |
1881 Census | 5,746 | 25.89% | 14,304 | 64.44% | 935 | 4.21% | 1,212 | 5.46% | 22,197 |
1891 Census | 6,426 | 24.96% | 17,117 | 66.49% | 1,105 | 4.29% | 1,097 | 4.26% | 25,745 |
1901 Census | 8,258 | 29.04% | 17,060 | 59.98% | 1,203 | 4.23% | 1,920 | 6.75% | 28,441 |
1911 Census | 9,700 | 32.60% | 17,233 | 57.92% | 1,138 | 3.82% | 1,684 | 5.66% | 29,755 |
1921 Census | 12,846 | 37.66% | 18,580 | 54.47% | 1,501 | 4.40% | 1,185 | 3.47% | 34,112 |
1946 Census | 23,219 | 30.58% | 33,795 | 44.51% | 11,606 | 15.29% | 7,306 | 9.62% | 75,926 |
1953 Census | 28,616 | 34.10% | 37,517 | 44.71% | 15,296 | 18.23% | 2,488 | 2.96% | 83,917 |
1963 Census | 40,775 | 29.43% | 54,452 | 39.30% | 39,925 | 28.82% | 3,401 | 2.45% | 138,553 |
1971 Census | 59,924 | 31.83% | 71,749 | 38.11% | 54,744 | 29.08% | 1,828 | 0.97% | 188,245 |
1981 Census | 75,039 | 29.32% | 93,132 | 36.39% | 85,503 | 33.41% | 2,274 | 0.89% | 255,948 |
2001 Census[c] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
2007 Enumeration | 151,692 | 45.37% | 96,142 | 28.75% | 84,766 | 25.35% | 1,763 | 0.53% | 334,363 |
2012 Census | 152,854 | 40.42% | 122,080 | 32.29% | 101,991 | 26.97% | 1,257 | 0.33% | 378,182 |
Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of 3,072 km2 (1,186 sq mi). Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and Modaragam Aru in the north, Anuradhapura District and Kurunegala District in the east, Ma Oya in the south, and the Indian Ocean in the west. Puttalam is well known for its picturesque lagoons, popular for shallow sea fishing and prawn farming activities. The town of Kalpitiya, and the Kalpitiya Peninsula, is located in this district.