Mullaitivu (district)

Mullaitivu District ; முல்லைத்தீவு ; மாவட்டம் මුලතිව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය
Province :	Northern Province
Administrative headquarters :	Mullaitivu
Area :	2,617 km²
of which land area:	2,415 km²
of which inland waters:	202 km²
Residents :	92238
Population density :	38 people / km²
Website :	District website

fasfsass coordinates: 9 ° 16 ' N , 80 ° 49' O9.26893 80.81516

The Mullaitivu district ( Tamil : முல்லைத்தீவு மாவட்டம் ; Mullaittīvu Māvaṭṭam , Sinhala : මුලතිව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ; Mulativ distrikkaya ) is a district in the northern province of Sri Lanka . The main town is the eponymous city of Mullaitivu . The Mullaitivu district was one of the areas affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009 .

geography

The Mullaitivu District is part of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It borders the Kilinochchi District in the north, the Mannar District in the west, the Vavuniya District in the southwest and the Trincomalee District of the Eastern Province in the southeast. To the east lies the coast of the Indian Ocean .

The Mullaitivu district covers an area of 2,617 square kilometers (of which 2,415 square kilometers are land and 202 square kilometers are inland water). This makes it the eleventh largest district in Sri Lanka in terms of area. The district area belongs to the Vanni region, which includes the northern part of the main island. The coastal belt in the east is characterized by sandy beaches and lagoons . The inland areas are largely overgrown with dense jungle: 64 percent of the district area is forested, 22 percent is used for agriculture.

history

The Mullaitivu district has existed as an independent district since 1978. It was formed from parts of the Jaffna , Vavuniya and Trincomalee districts.

LTTE naval troops board a combat boat in Mullaitivu (2003)

Mullaitivu district is one of the areas claimed by Tamil separatists as part of an independent Tamil Eelam state and was affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009 . In the early stages of the civil war, the Jaffna Peninsula was still the stronghold of the Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but after the government troops captured Jaffna in December 1995 , the rebels made the Vanni region their main area of operation. The LTTE fighters gathered in the inland forests and in July 1996 captured the city of Mullaitivu, which had previously been an important base for government forces. Mullaitivu district remained in the hands of the LTTE until the end of the civil war. In the course of their offensive in the final phase of the war, the Sri Lankan army captured Mullaitivu in January 2009 as the last city controlled by the LTTE. The remaining LTTE troops then withdrew to the area north of Mullaitivu. In the next few months the government forces crushed the last of the insurgents. The fighting in the final phase of the civil war led to a humanitarian catastrophe: around 250,000 civilians were trapped in the combat area, and the UN estimates that at least 7,000 civilians were killed. On May 16, 2009, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared the civil war over.

Not only the civil war, but also the 2004 tsunami disaster had catastrophic consequences in the Mullaitivu district: The tidal wave hit the district's coast with full force and killed more than 3,000 people. Over 5000 houses were destroyed.

population

According to the 2012 census, the Mullaitivu district has 92,238 inhabitants. With only 38 inhabitants per square kilometer, it is very sparsely populated and the population density is well below the Sri Lankan average (325 inhabitants per square kilometer). The division Manthai East has only 14 inhabitants / km². Of the residents, 46,036 (49.91%) were male and 46,202 (50.09%) were female. The population is very young. This is illustrated by a look at the age distribution.

Age	0–9 years	10–19 years	20-29 years	30–39 years	40-49 years	50–59 years	60–79 years	80 years and more
number	19,227	17,968	15,031	14,200	9,727	8,225	7,330	530
proportion of	20.84%	19.48%	16.30%	15.39%	10.55%	8.92%	7.95%	0.57%

District population by ethnic group

The Sri Lankan Tamils make up the majority of the population of the Mullaitivu district with around 85%. But there are large minorities of other ethnic groups.

Sri Lankan Tamils The Sri Lankan Tamils are the largest ethnic group. In five of the six divisions, they make up the majority of the population. They are above average in the Puthukudiyiruppu division (98.24% Sri Lankan Tamils). In the newly established Welioya division, they are only weakly represented with 13 people (0.19%).

Sinhalese The Sinhalese population is concentrated in the Welioya division in the southeast of the district. The government had targeted Sinhalese new settlers here in the 1980s, which developed into a serious point of contention in the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict. In this division they make up 99.77% of the population. 77% of all Sinhalese in the Mullaitivu district live there. Overall, the proportion of Sinhalese is low today. Many Sinhalese new settlers turned their backs on the area during the fighting. The Sinhala population ranges from 0.27% in Puthukudiyiruppu to 99.77% in Welioya.

Indian Tamils The Tamils of Indian descent are descendants of immigrants from India during British colonial rule. In 1981, 14.53% belonged to their ethnic group. This made them the second largest ethnic group after the Sri Lankan Tamils. Many Tamils of Indian origin fled during the civil war. Today their ethnic group is around 80% smaller than before the beginning of the civil war. But they are everywhere with the exception of the Welioya division. Their share ranges between 0.00% in Welioya (not a single Indian Tamil) and 8.09% in Manthai East.

Moors The fourth largest ethnic group today are the Moors or Tamil-speaking Muslims. Almost all members of this population group live in the Maritimepattu Division (5.96% Moors), around 95% of their ethnic group. Their share ranges between 0.00% in Welioya (1 person) and 5.96% in Maritimepattu.

The Muslims, who in 1981 still made up 4.73% of the population, were systematically expelled from the Mullaitivu district in October 1990, as in the other LTTE-controlled areas of the northern province. Since the end of the civil war, some of the Muslims have returned.

Other ethnic groups The Malay and Burgher are small minorities.

year	Sinhalese ¹		Sri Lankan Tamils ²		Tamils ²		Moors ³		Burgher		Malays		Others ⁴		Total
year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1981	3,992	5.17%	58.209	75.41%	11,215	14.53%	3,651	4.73%	95	0.12%	19th	0.02%	8th	0.01%	77.189	100.00%
2012	8,927	9.68%	79.107	85.76%	2,281	2.47%	1,821	1.97%	49	0.05%	11	0.01%	42	0.05%	92,238	100.00%
Source: Sri Lankan censuses in 1981 and 2012

¹ lowland and Kandy Sinhalese together ² Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils separately ³ only Sri Lankan moors ^{4 of} them 2012 no Sri Lanka Chetties and 1 Bharatha

Population of the district by confession

The distribution of creeds is partly a reflection of ethnic conditions. On closer inspection, there are significant differences from the rest of the country. The Hinduism , which belongs to a majority of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, is in the district of Mullaitivu the strongest faith. Only fourth is Islam , to which the Moors and Malay belong. The Buddhism is the third largest religious group. However, about 700 Sinhalese (8%; in 1981 still 2,900 or 73% of the ethnic group) Sinhalese and 12,000 Tamils (around 15% of their ethnic group; 1981 around 9,000) belong to Christianity . There are Christian Tamils mainly in the Maritimepattu division (around 20% Christians among the Tamils). For this reason, Christians are currently the second largest religious community. But the proportion of Roman Catholics among Christians has fallen from 96% (1981) to 71% (2012).

Hindu temple in Mullaitivu

year	Buddhists		Hindus		Muslims		Catholics		other Christs		Other		Total
year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1981	1,060	1.37%	60.117	77.88%	3,789	4.91%	11,735	15.20%	476	0.62%	12	0.02%	77.189	100.00%
2012	8,185	8.87%	69,377	75.22%	1,880	2.04%	9,063	9.83%	3,664	3.97%	69	0.07%	92,238	100.00%
Source: Sri Lankan censuses in 1981 and 2012

Population development

During the civil war, the population fluctuated considerably due to flight and displacement. In 1981, the year of the last census before the outbreak of war, 77,189 people lived in Mullaitivu district. While under the control of the LTTE, Mullaitivu district attracted large numbers of refugees from the government-controlled areas. District administration estimates that the population peaked in 2007 at 220,311. The fighting in the final phase of the civil war forced a large part of the population to flee again. In 2011 only 66,685 inhabitants were identified in a special census. Since then, however, the population has been consolidating due to the resettlement of internally displaced people.

In 2012, according to government statistics, there were 74,674 refugees and returnees in Mullaitivu district. Among them were 410 refugees from other areas of Sri Lanka and 74,264 people were resettled after being displaced.

Local administration

Map of the divisions of Mullaitivu District (excluding Oddusuddan and Welioya)

The head of the district holds the title of District Secretary. The district is further divided into six divisions (under a Division Secretary). The cities and larger towns have their own administration (municipal parliament or council). There are 136 village administrations (Grama Niladharis) for the 624 villages in the entire district.

The DS Divisions in Mullaitivu District
Surname	Residents 2012	Area in km²	density	GN	Villages
Manthai East	7.117	515	14th	15th	68
Maritime pattu	28,973	744.6	39	46	219
Oddusuddan	15,721	639	25th	27	114
Puthukudiyiruppu	23,824	371	64	19th	179
Thunukkai	9,699	347.3	28	20th	36
Welioya	6,904	k.Ang.	k.Ang.	9	18th
Mullaitivu District	Mullaitivu	92,238	2,415	38	136

Individual evidence

↑ Northern Provincial Council: Statistical Information 2013, p. 12. (PDF; 28.7 MB)

^ Die Welt, May 16, 2009: "Sri Lanka declares Tamil rebels defeated".

↑ See International Crisis Group : Sri Lanka's North I: The Denial of Minority Rights (Asia Report N ° 219), March 16, 2012 ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 3.9 MB), pp. 22-25. @1@ 2

↑ See International Crisis Group: Sri Lanka's North I: The Denial of Minority Rights (Asia Report N ° 219), March 16, 2012 ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 3.9 MB), pp. 26–30 and Sri Lanka's Muslims: Caught in the Crossfire (Asia Report N ° 134), May 29, 2007. ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info : The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 689 kB) @1@ 2 @1@ 2