Jaffna District

Jaffna District யாழ்ப்பாணம் மாவட்டம் යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය
Administrative District
Jaffna Fort
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 09°40′N80°10′E / 9.667°N 80.167°E / 9.667; 80.167
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	Northern
Capital	Jaffna
DS Division	List Delft Islands North Islands South Jaffna Karativu Nallur Thenmarachchi Vadamarachchi East Vadamarachchi North Vadamarachchi SW Valikamam East Valikamam North Valikamam South Valikamam SW Valikamam West
Government
•  District Secretary	Kanapathipillai Mahesan [1]
•  MPs	List Silvestri Alantine Murugesu Chandrakumar Douglas Devananda Vijayakala Maheswaran Suresh Premachandran E. Saravanapavan Mavai Senathirajah S. Sritharan A. Vinayagamoorthy
•  MPCs	List E. Arnold P. Ayngaranesan B. Gajatheepan K. Kamalendran Vinthan Kanagaratnam A. Paranjothy A. Ramanathan K. Sarveswaran Ananthi Sasitharan K. Sayanthan M. K. Shivajilingam D. Siddarthan C. V. K. Sivagnanam V. Sivayogan C. Sukirthan C. V. Vigneswaran
Area [2]
• Total	1,025 km2 (396 sq mi)
• Land	929 km2 (359 sq mi)
• Water	96 km2 (37 sq mi)  9.37%
• Rank	24th (1.56% of total area)
Population  (2012 census) [3]
• Total	583,378
• Rank	16th (2.88% of total pop.)
• Density	628/km2 (1,630/sq mi)
Ethnicity (2012 census) [3]
•  Sri Lankan Tamil	577,246 (98.95%)
•  Sinhalese	3,366 (0.58%)
•  Sri Lankan Moors	2,139 (0.37%)
•  Indian Tamil	499 (0.09%)
• Other	128 (0.02%)
Religion (2012 census) [4]
•  Hindu	483,900 (82.95%)
•  Christian	94,146 (16.14%)
•  Buddhist	2,533 (0.43%)
•  Muslim	2,455 (0.42%)
• Other	344 (0.06%)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka)
Post Codes	40000-40999
Telephone Codes	021
ISO 3166 code	LK-41
Vehicle registration	NP
Official Languages	Tamil, Sinhala
Website	Jaffna District Secretariat

Jaffna District (Tamil : யாழ்ப்பாணம் மாவட்டம்Yāḻppāṇam Māvaṭṭam; Sinhala : යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයyāpanaya distrikkaya) 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 (previously known as a Government Agent) appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Jaffna.

History

Between the 5th century BC and the 13th century AD present day Jaffna District was part of various Kingdoms such as Pandya, Chola, Pallava, Kalinga, and Rajarata. Jaffna District was thereafter part of the pre-colonial Jaffna kingdom. ^[5] The district then came under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. In 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic-based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. Jaffna District was part of the Tamil administration. In 1833, in accordance with the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the ethnic based administrative structures were unified into a single administration divided into five geographic provinces. ^[6] Jaffna District, together with Mannar District and Vanni District, formed the new Northern Province. ^[7] At the time that Ceylon gained independence, Jaffna was one of the three districts located in the Northern Province. Parts of the district were transferred to newly created Mullaitivu District in September 1978. Kilinochchi District was carved out of the southern part of Jaffna District in February 1984.

Geography

Jaffna District is located in the far north of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province and occupies most of the Jaffna Peninsula. It has an area of 1,025 square kilometres (396 sq mi). ^[2] It is divided into four areas geographically:

• Thenmarachchi or Thenmaradchi
• Vadamarachchi or Vadamaradchi
• Valikamam
• Jaffna Islands

Administrative units

Jaffna District is divided into 15 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent). ^[8] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 435 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions). ^[8]

History

Most of the current divisions and their borders date back to Dutch colonial rule in the 18th century. ^{[9] [10]}

DS Division	Main Town	Divisional Secretary	GN Divisions [8]	Area (km2) [8] [11]	Population (2012 Census) [12]						Population Density (/km2)
					Sri Lankan Tamil	Sinhalese	Sri Lankan Moors	Indian Tamil	Other	Total
Delft		A. Siri	6	45	3,780	38	0	1	0	3,819	85
Islands North	Kayts	Anton Yoganayagam	15	30	9,846	129	3	19	0	9,997	333
Islands South	Velanai	Manchulathevi Satheesan	30	78	16,379	6	125	15	0	16,525	212
Jaffna	Jaffna	Sugunarathy Theivendram	28	17	48,413	504	1,682	104	56	50,759	2,986
Karainagar	Karainagar	Thevanthini Babu	9	22	9,533	0	0	9	2	9,544	434
Nallur	Nallur	Palasingam Senthilnanthanan	40	38	67,777	199	45	21	6	68,048	1,791
Thenmarachchi	Chavakachcheri	Anjalidevi Santhaseelan	60	221	64,162	247	62	169	45	64,685	293
Vadamarachchi East	Maruthankerney	Nadarajah Thirulinganathan	18	179	12,718	1	3	16	0	12,738	71
Vadamarachchi North	Point Pedro	R. T. Jeyaseelan	35	29	47,183	167	12	26	1	47,389	1,634
Vadamarachchi South West	Karaveddy	S. Sivasri	35	88	45,495	73	18	38	4	45,628	519
Valikamam East	Kopay	Maruthalingam Pradeepan	31	102	72,908	252	101	35	2	73,298	719
Valikamam North	Tellippalai	Kanagarajah Shrimohanan	45	57	28,179	1,336	21	4	6	29,546	518
Valikamam South	Uduvil	M. Nanthagopalan	30	30	52,574	190	44	25	0	52,833	1,761
Valikamam South West	Sandilipay	Subramaniyam Muralitharan	28	45	52,039	159	18	8	2	52,226	1,161
Valikamam West	Chankanai	Shanmugarajah Balaruban	25	44	46,260	65	5	9	4	46,343	1,053
Total			435	1,025	577,246	3,366	2,139	499	128	583,378	569

Demographics

Population

Jaffna District's population was 583,378 in 2012. ^[3] It is one of the most densely populated districts of Sri Lanka. The population of the district is almost exclusively Sri Lankan Tamil.

The population of the district, like the rest of the north and east of Sri Lanka, has been heavily affected by the civil war. The war killed an estimated 100,000 people. ^[13] Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as one million, emigrated to the West during the war. ^[14] Many Sri Lankan Tamils also moved to the relative safety of the capital Colombo. Most of the Sri Lankan Moors and Sinhalese who lived in the district fled to other parts of Sri Lanka or were forcibly expelled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Ethnicity

In 2024, Sri Lankan Tamils are the predominant ethnic group, making up 98.61% of the population. ^[15]

Population of Jaffna District by ethnic group 1881 to 2012 ^{[3] [16] [17] [18] [a]}

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

Religion

Religion in Jaffna district (2024) ^[19]

Religion			Percent
Hinduism			82.31%
Catholicism			12.98%
Other Christianity			3.51%
Islam			0.73%
Buddhism			0.47%
Other or not stated			0.00%

Population of Jaffna District by religion 1971 to 2012 ^{[4] [20] [21] [22]}

Year	Hindu		Christian [e]		Buddhist		Muslim		Others		Total No.
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1971 Census	585,418	83.11%	85,031	12.08%	18,210	2.59%	15,520	2.20%	171	0.02%	704,350
1981 Census	705,705	84.97%	104,766	12.61%	5,104	0.61%	14,844	1.79%	133	0.02%	830,552
2008 Estimate	484,308	86.45%	75,357	13.45%	29	0.01%	452	0.08%	50	0.01%	560,196
2012 Census	483,900	82.95%	94,146	16.14%	2,533	0.43%	2,455	0.42%	344	0.06%	583,378

Education

• Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam

Politics and government

Local government

Jaffna District has 17 local authorities of which one is a Municipal Council, three are Urban Councils and the remaining 13 are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha). ^[8]

Local Authority	Area (km2) [8]	Population (2011) [18]	Registered Electors (2011) [f]	Elected Members (2011) [g]
				TNA [h]	UPFA	UNP	Other	Total
Chavakacheri Divisional Council	200.90	48,166	37,015	12	2	1	0	15
Chavakacheri Urban Council	31.29	15,780	10,987	9	2	0	0	11
Delft Divisional Council	47.16	3,861	3,085	1	8	0	0	9
Jaffna Municipal Council	20.20	76,080	100,417	9	13	0	1	23
Karainagar Divisional Council	21.74	9,505	8,140	3	1	1	0	5
Kayts Divisional Council	45.11	10,534	6,349	1	4	0	0	5
Nallur Divisional Council	20.59	36,472	22,012	10	2	0	0	12
Point Pedro Divisional Council	220.00	39,651	25,375	7	2	0	0	9
Point Pedro Urban Council	4.62	12,161	7,376	7	2	0	0	9
Vadamarachchi South West Divisional Council	68.95	45,386	32,539	15	3	0	0	18
Valikamam East Divisional Council	102.20	70,064	46,570	16	5	0	0	21
Valikamam North Divisional Council	58.50	26,049	63,224	15	6	0	0	21
Valikamam South Divisional Council	33.26	51,612	32,857	13	3	0	0	16
Valikamam South West Divisional Council	55.24	50,971	31,022	12	4	0	0	16
Valikamam West Divisional Council	47.30	45,983	30,214	11	3	0	0	14
Valvettithurai Urban Council	5.36	8,382	5,550	7	2	0	0	9
Velanai Divisional Council	94.80	16,572	12,028	3	8	0	0	11
Total	1,077.22	567,229		151	70	2	1	224

Twinned Regions

On 18 October 2016, Jaffna District twinned with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London. ^[23] This has been a milestone to build “greater understanding and sharing knowledge” in the fields of governance, healthcare and education. ^[24]

Notes

1. Pre-1984 figures include Kilinochchi District which was carved out of the southern part of Jaffna district in February 1984.
2. Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil.
3. Sri Lankan Moors and Indian Moors.
4. 2001 Census was not carried out in Jaffna District.
5. Roman Catholic and Other Christian.
6. 2009 for Jaffna Municipal Council.
7. 2009 for Jaffna Municipal Council.
8. Includes TULF.

References

1. "District Secretary - Jaffna". Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
2. "Area of Sri Lanka by province and district" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
3. "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
4. "A3 : Population by religion according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
5. de Silva, K. M. (1981). A History of Sri Lanka. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. xvii.
6. Mills, Lennox A. (1933). Ceylon Under British Rule (1795–1932). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 67–68.
7. Medis, G. C. (1946). Ceylon Under the British (2nd (revised) ed.). Colombo: The Colombo Apothecaries Co. pp. 39–40.
8. "Statistical Information 2012". Northern Provincial Council.
9. மயூரநாதன், இரத்தினவேலுப்பிள்ளை (2024-06-04). "லெயுசிக்காமின் நிலப்படத் தொகுப்பில் வலிகாமம் - 1". Ezhuna | எழுநா. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
10. மயூரநாதன், இரத்தினவேலுப்பிள்ளை (2025-03-02). "லெயுசிக்காமின் நிலப்படத் தொகுப்பில் வலிகாமம் - சங்கானை". Ezhuna | எழுநா. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
11. "Land area by province, district and divisional secretariat division" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
12. "A6 : Population by ethnicity and district according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
13. "Up to 100,000 killed in Sri Lanka's civil war: UN". ABC News (Australia). 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009.
14. Harrison, Frances (23 July 2003). "Twenty years on – riots that led to war". BBC News.
15. "Population by ethnicity according to Divisional Secretariat Divisions, 2024". Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. 2024.
16. "Basic Population Information on Jaffna District – 2007" (PDF). Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
17. "Statistical Information 2010" (PDF). Northern Provincial Council.
18. "Enumeration of Vital Events 2011 – Northern Province" (PDF). Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
19. "Population by religion according to Divisional Secretariat Divisions, 2024". Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. 2024.
20. "Population by religion and district, Census 1981, 2001" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
21. "Jaffna District in Facts and Figures". Balasundarapillay.P, Rupamoorthy.k. Teepam Institute. Retrieved 21 Oct 2013.
22. Jaffna District Statistical Information 2009. Jaffna District Secretariat. June 2009. p. 32.
23. Hammond, Michael. "International partnerships". www.kingston.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
24. "New ties for borough as Kingston twins with Jaffna in Sri Lanka". Surrey Comet. Retrieved 2016-12-21.

External links

• Jaffna District Secretariat Archived 2018-09-19 at the Wayback Machine