Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Eastern Province
கிழக்கு மாகாணம் නැගෙනහිර පළාත | |
---|---|
![]() Location within Sri Lanka | |
Country | ![]() |
Created | 1 October 1833 |
Provincial Council | 14 November 1987 |
Capital | Trincomalee |
Largest City | Trincomalee |
Districts | |
Government | |
• Governor | Mohan Wijewickrama |
• Chief Minister | Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan |
Area | |
• Total | 9,996 km2 (3,859 sq mi) |
• Land | 9,361 km2 (3,614 sq mi) |
• Water | 635 km2 (245 sq mi) 6.35% |
• Rank | 2nd (15.24% of total area) |
Population | |
• Total | 1,460,939 |
• Rank | 6th (6.7% of total pop.) |
• Density | 150/km2 (380/sq mi) |
Ethnicity | |
• Tamil | 590,132 (40.39%) |
• Moors | 549,857 (37.64%) |
• Sinhalese | 316,101 (21.64%) |
• Other | 4,849 (0.33%) |
Religion (1981)[5] | |
• Hindu | 372,464 (38.19%) |
• Muslim | 317,354 (32.54%) |
• Buddhist | 237,416 (24.34%) |
• Catholic | 39,650 (4.07%) |
• Other | 8,367 (0.86%) |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka) |
Post Codes | 30000-32999 |
Telephone Codes | 026, 063, 065, 067 |
ISO 3166 code | LK-5 |
Vehicle registration | EP |
Official Languages | Tamil, Sinhala |
Website | Eastern Provincial Council |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/The_flood-lagoon-Batticaloa-from_december_2010_to_feb_2011.jpg/260px-The_flood-lagoon-Batticaloa-from_december_2010_to_feb_2011.jpg)
The Eastern Province (Tamil: கிழக்கு மாகாணம் Kil̮akku mākāṇam, Sinhala: නැගෙනහිර පළාත Næ̆gĕnahira paḷāta) is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils.[6][7] Between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the North-East Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee.
Geography
Eastern province has an area of 9,996 square kilometres (3,859 sq mi).[1]
The province is surrounded by the Northern Province to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Southern Province to the south, and the Uva, Central and North Central provinces to the west.
The province's coast is dominated by lagoons, the largest being Batticaloa Lagoon, Kokkilai lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullackalie Lagoon.
Administrative units
The Eastern Province is divided into 3 administrative districts, 45 Divisional Secretary's (DS) Divisions and 1,085 Grama Niladhari (GN) Divisions (villages).
Administrative District |
DS Divisions |
GN Divisions |
Area[1] (km2) |
Population[2][3][4] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total (2007 Est.) |
Density (/km2) | ||||
Ampara | 20 | 507 | 4,415 | 610,719 | 138.33 |
Batticaloa | 14 | 348 | 2,854 | 515,857 | 180.75 |
Trincomalee | 11 | 230 | 2,727 | 334,363 | 122.61 |
Total | 45 | 1,085 | 9,996 | 1,460,939 | 146.15 |
Major cities and towns
Rank | City/town | District | Population (2012 est)[8] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kalmunai | Ampara | 106,783 |
2 | Trincomalee | Trincomalee | 99,135 |
3 | Batticaloa | Batticaloa | 92,332 |
4 | Kattankudy | Batticaloa | 40,883 |
5 | Eravur | Batticaloa | 25,582 |
6 | Ampara | Ampara | 20,309 |
Demographics
Population
The Eastern province's population was 1,460,939 in 2007.[2][3][4] The province is the most diverse in Sri Lanka, both ethnically and religiously.
The population of the province, like that of the Northern Province, has been heavily affected by the civil war. The war has killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people in Sri Lanka comprising all ethinic groups.[9] Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as 400,000,[10] have emigrated to the West since the start of the war. The large number of internally displaced persons at the conclusion of the conflict had been now settled except for a few hundred thousands who are still living in refugee camps in the East. There are approximately 80,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India.[11] Many Sri Lankan Tamils have also moved to the relative safety of Colombo. The conflict has also caused some of the Tamils, Moors and Sinhalese who lived in the Northern and Eastern provinces to flee to other parts of Sri Lanka.
Administrative District |
Sri Lankan Tamil |
Sri Lankan Moor |
Sinhalese | Burgher | Indian Tamil |
Sri Lankan Malay |
Other | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ampara | 111,948 | 268,630 | 228,938 | 929 | 58 | 163 | 53 | 610,719 |
Batticaloa | 381,841 | 128,964 | 2,397 | 2,412 | 143 | 81 | 19 | 515,857 |
Trincomalee | 95,652 | 151,692 | 84,766 | 967 | 490 | 327 | 469 | 334,363 |
Total | 589,441 | 549,286 | 316,101 | 4,308 | 691 | 571 | 541 | 1,460,939 |
Ethnicity
Year | Tamils1 | Moors2 | Sinhalese | Others | Total No. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |||
1881 Census | 75,318 | 58.96% | 43,001 | 33.66% | 5,947 | 4.66% | 3,489 | 2.73% | 127,755 | |
1891 Census | 86,701 | 58.41% | 51,206 | 34.50% | 7,508 | 5.06% | 3,029 | 2.04% | 148,444 | |
1901 Census | 96,917 | 55.83% | 62,448 | 35.97% | 8,778 | 5.06% | 5,459 | 3.14% | 173,602 | |
1911 Census | 101,181 | 55.08% | 70,395 | 38.32% | 6,909 | 3.76% | 5,213 | 2.84% | 183,698 | |
1921 Census | 103,245 | 53.54% | 75,992 | 39.41% | 8,744 | 4.53% | 4,840 | 2.51% | 192,821 | |
1946 Census | 136,059 | 48.75% | 109,024 | 39.06% | 23,456 | 8.40% | 10,573 | 3.79% | 279,112 | |
1953 Census | 167,898 | 47.37% | 135,322 | 38.18% | 46,470 | 13.11% | 4,720 | 1.33% | 354,410 | |
1963 Census | 246,059 | 45.03% | 184,434 | 33.75% | 108,636 | 19.88% | 7,345 | 1.34% | 546,474 | |
1971 Census | 315,566 | 43.98% | 247,178 | 34.45% | 148,572 | 20.70% | 6,255 | 0.87% | 717,571 | |
1981 Census | 410,156 | 42.06% | 315,436 | 32.34% | 243,701 | 24.99% | 5,988 | 0.61% | 975,251 | |
2001 Census3 | ||||||||||
2007 Estimate | 590,132 | 40.39% | 549,857 | 37.64% | 316,101 | 21.64% | 4,849 | 0.33% | 1,460,939 | |
Sources:[2][3][4][12] |
1 Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. 2 Sri Lankan Moors and Sri Lankan Malays. 3 2001 Census was only carried out partially in the Eastern province.
Religion
Administrative District |
Hindu | Muslim | Buddhist | Roman Catholic |
Other Christian |
Others | Total No. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |||
Ampara | 72,809 | 18.72% | 162,140 | 41.68% | 145,687 | 37.45% | 5,643 | 1.45% | 2,387 | 0.61% | 304 | 0.08% | 388,970 | |
Batticaloa | 218,812 | 66.24% | 78,810 | 23.86% | 9,127 | 2.76% | 19,704 | 5.96% | 3,795 | 1.15% | 85 | 0.03% | 330,333 | |
Trincomalee | 80,843 | 31.56% | 76,404 | 29.85% | 82,602 | 32.27% | 14,303 | 5.59% | 1,280 | 0.50% | 516 | 0.20% | 255,948 | |
Total | 372,464 | 38.19% | 317,354 | 32.54% | 237,416 | 24.34% | 39,650 | 4.07% | 7,462 | 0.78% | 905 | 0.09% | 975,251 | |
Source:[5] |
Politics and government
Provincial Council
The 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. The first elections for provincial councils took place on 28 April 1988 in North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces.[13]
Elections in the newly merged North-East Province were scheduled for 19 November 1988. However, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), which at that time occupied the North-East Province, rigged the elections in the north so that the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), two Indian backed paramilitary groups, won all of the 36 seats in the north uncontested.[14] However, elections did take place for the 35 seats in the east. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress won 17 seats, EPRLF 12 seats, ENDLF 5 seats and the United National Party 1 seat. On 10 December 1988 Annamalai Varatharajah Perumal of the EPRLF became the first Chief Minister of the North-East Provincial Council.[14]
On 1 March 1990, just as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Permual moved a motion in the North-East Provincial Council declaraing an independent Eelam.[15] President Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial council and imposing direct rule on the province.
The north-east was ruled directly from Colombo until May 2008 when elections were held in the demerged Eastern Province (the Northern Province continues to be governed from Colombo).
Current situation
The Eastern Province has received at least $500 million dollars from international donors since coming under the control of the Government of Sri Lanka in 2007, according to the International Crisis Group.[16] Communities in the Eastern Province still suffer from insecurity in the form of illegal taxes, political killings, abductions, and instances of rape. Many community members blame government security forces but also government-backed paramilitary groups such as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP).[17]
North-East Province
The Indo-Lanka Accord signed on 29 July 1987 required the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to the provinces and, in the interim, to merge the Eastern and Northern provinces into one administrative unit. The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent. Crucially, the accord allowed the Sri Lankan president to postpone the referendum at his discretion.[18]
On 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No 42 of 1987, establishing provincial councils.[7][19] On September 2 and 8 1988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Eastern and Northern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council.[20] The North-East Province was born.
The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents have issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary" entity.[21]
The merger was bitterly opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The combined North-East Province occupied one third of Sri Lanka. The thought of the Tamil Tigers controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[20] On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.[20] The North-East Province was formally demerged into the Eastern and Northern provinces on 1 January 2007.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Department of Census & Statistics Statistical Abstract 2007 (Area & Climate)
- ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Ampara
- ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Batticaloa
- ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Trincomalee
- ^ a b Census 2001 - Department of Census & Statistics Statistical Abstract 2007 (Population)
- ^ Provinces of Sri Lanka, Statoids
- ^ a b Provincial Councils, The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka
- ^ "Sri Lanka: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". World Gazetteer.
- ^ "Up to 100,000 killed in Sri Lanka's civil war: UN". ABC News (Australia). 20 May 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
- ^ Sri Lankan Tamil Migration
- ^ Acharya, Arunkumar (2007). "Ethnic conflict and refugees in Sri Lanka". Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon
- ^ Demographic Changes by the LTTE Peace Secretariat, April 2008 (via Sangam)
- ^ Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999, ICES
- ^ a b Sri Lanka" The Untold Story by K T Rajasingham (via Asia Times)
- ^ I'm no traitor, says Perumal, Sunday Island 10 September 2000
- ^ Development Assistance and Conflict in Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Eastern Province, Asia Report No. 165, International Crisis Group, 16 April 2009
- ^ East offers glimpse of post-war Sri Lanka, by Maura R. O'Connor, Global Post, 1 May 2009
- ^ Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987, TamiNation
- ^ The Constitution, The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka
- ^ a b c North-East merger illegal: SC, LankaNewspapers.com 17 October 2006
- ^ Sri Lanka's North-East to remain united for another year, The Hindu 14 November 2003
External links
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