Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Eastern Province
கிழக்கு மாகாணம்
නැගෙනහිර පළාත
—  Province  —

Flag
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates:
Country  Sri Lanka
Created 1 October 1833
Provincial Council 14 November 1987
Capital Trincomalee
Largest City Trincomalee
Districts
List
Government
 • Governor Mohan Wijewickrama
 • Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Area[1]
 • Total 9,996 km2 (3,859.5 sq mi)
 • Land 9,361 km2 (3,614.3 sq mi)
 • Water 635 km2 (245.2 sq mi)  6.35%
Area rank 2nd (15.24% of total area)
Population (2007)[2][3][4]
 • Total 1,460,939
 • Rank 6th (6.7% of total pop.)
 • Density 146.2/km2 (378.5/sq mi)
Ethnicity(2007)[2][3][4]
 • 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 Sri Lanka (UTC+05:30)
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 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.

Contents

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).

Statistics
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

See also: List of towns in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Rank City/town District Population
(2010 est)[8]
1 Trincomalee Trincomalee 126,902
2 Kalmunai Ampara 104,985
3 Batticaloa Batticaloa 97,648
4 Kattankudy Batticaloa 39,837
5 Eravur Batticaloa 24,928
6 Ampara Ampara 17,996

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.[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. There are a further 300,000 internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka living in refugee camps in the East and North and depending on aid provided by NGOs[11] There are approximately 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees is India.[12] Many Sri Lankan Tamils have also moved to the relative safety of Colombo. The war has also caused some of the Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Moors and Sinhalese who lived in the province to flee to other parts of Sri Lanka.

Population (2007 Estimate)[2][3][4]
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:[2][3][4][13]

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:[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.[14]

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.[15] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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).[18]

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.[19]

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][20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[21] On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect.[21] The North-East Province was formally demerged into the Eastern and Northern provinces on 1 January 2007.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Department of Census & Statistics Statistical Abstract 2007 (Area & Climate)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Ampara
  3. ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Batticaloa
  4. ^ a b c d e f Department of Census & Statistics Special Enumeration 2007, Trincomalee
  5. ^ a b Census 2001 - Department of Census & Statistics Statistical Abstract 2007 (Population)
  6. ^ Provinces of Sri Lanka, Statoids
  7. ^ a b Provincial Councils, The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". World Gazetteer. http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-127&srt=pnan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500. 
  9. ^ "Up to 100,000 killed in Sri Lanka's civil war: UN". ABC News (Australia). 20 May 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/20/2576543.htm. Retrieved 30 July 2009. 
  10. ^ Sri Lankan Tamil Migration
  11. ^ "Sri Lanka displacement update". UNHCR. 6 June 2009. http://www.unhcr.org/4a2513196.html. Retrieved 30 July 2009. 
  12. ^ Acharya, Arunkumar (2007). "Ethnic conflict and refugees in Sri Lanka". Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon
  13. ^ Demographic Changes by the LTTE Peace Secretariat, April 2008 (via Sangam)
  14. ^ Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999, ICES
  15. ^ a b Sri Lanka" The Untold Story by K T Rajasingham (via Asia Times)
  16. ^ I'm no traitor, says Perumal, Sunday Island 10 September 2000
  17. ^ Development Assistance and Conflict in Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Eastern Province, Asia Report No. 165, International Crisis Group, 16 April 2009
  18. ^ East offers glimpse of post-war Sri Lanka, by Maura R. O'Connor, Global Post, 1 May 2009
  19. ^ Indo Sri Lanka Agreement, 1987, TamiNation
  20. ^ The Constitution, The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka
  21. ^ a b c North-East merger illegal: SC, LankaNewspapers.com 17 October 2006
  22. ^ Sri Lanka's North-East to remain united for another year, The Hindu 14 November 2003

External links

North Central Province Northern Province
Indian Ocean
   Eastern Province    
Uva Province Southern Province