Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Eastern Province கிழக்கு மாகாணம் නැගෙනහිර පළාත
Province
Flag
Location within Sri Lanka
Country	Sri Lanka
Created	1 October 1833
Provincial Council	14 November 1987
Capital	Trincomalee
Largest City	Trincomalee
Districts	List Ampara Batticaloa Trincomalee
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  (2007)
• Total	1,460,939
• Rank	6th (6.7% of total pop.)
• Density	150/km2 (380/sq mi)
Ethnicity (2007)
• Tamil	590,132 (40.39%)
• Moors	549,857 (37.64%)
• Sinhalese	316,101 (21.64%)
• Other	4,849 (0.33%)
Religion (1981)
• 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

the flood in Batticaloa Lagoon

The Eastern Province (Template:Lang-ta 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. 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).

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).

Statistics

Administrative District	DS Divisions	GN Divisions	Area (km2)	Population
				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

See also: List of towns in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Rank	City/town	District	Population (2012 est)
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. 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. Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as 400,000, 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. 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.

Population (2007 Estimate)

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

Ethnicity in Eastern Province(2001)
Population			Percent
Tamils			40.39%
Sri Lankan Moors			37.64%
Sinhalese			21.64%
Others			0.33%

Population of Eastern Province by ethnic group 1881 to 2007

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:

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

Population of Eastern Province by religion 1981 census

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:

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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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).

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect. The North-East Province was formally demerged into the Eastern and Northern provinces on 1 January 2007.

See also

• North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

External links

• Eastern Provincial Council