Northern Province, Sri Lanka

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Northern Province is a province of Sri Lanka. Its capital is Jaffna. It is one of 2 provinces of Sri Lanka that has an overwhelming non Sinhalese population. It is the bastion of the Tamil minority and was part of the former independent Jaffna Kingdom. The current civil war has its roots in this province. Majority of the people earn their livelihood as farmers, fishers and professionals in the civil and business sectors. It is known for its institutions of higher education. Small scale industry such as chemical, light manufacturing and textiles were present before the civil war. Jaffna peninsula itself is irrigated by underground aquifers fed by wells whereas the rest of the province has irrigation tanks.