Eastern Province (Sri Lanka)

Eastern Province ; கிழக்கு மாகாணம் (Kiḻakku Mākāṇam) ; නැගෙනහිර පළාත (Nægenahira Paḷāta)
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Capital :	Trincomalee
Area :	9996 km²
Residents :	1,547,306 (2012)
Population density :	165 inhabitants per km²

8.5825 81.2089Coordinates: 8 ° 35 ' N , 81 ° 13' E

The Eastern Province ( Tamil : கிழக்கு மாகாணம் Kiḻakku Mākāṇam [ ˈkɨɭʌkːɯ ˈmaːɡaːɳʌm ], Sinhala : නැගෙනහිර පළාත Nägenahira Paḷāta [ ˈnæɡenəhirə paˈlaːt̪ə ], English : Eastern Province ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka . It includes the districts of Trincomalee , Batticaloa and Ampara in the eastern part of the island. The capital is Trincomalee . The Eastern Province has an area of 9,996 km² and around 1.5 million inhabitants. The Eastern Province was one of the areas affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009 .

history

The area was united from 1988 to 2006 with the northern province together as one province ( northeast province ). It is claimed by the Tamils for the state of Tamil Eelam . Much of the area was under the control of the LTTE until 2007 .

In 2004 the coastal region of the area was badly hit by the tsunami and the region suffered many deaths. Many people lost their houses and apartments in the process, followed by further damage from the civil war, so that this area is currently being rebuilt.

Districts

The Eastern Province is divided into the following three districts:

District	Administrative headquarters	surface	Population (2012)	Population density
Ampara	Ampara	4,415 km²	645.825	153 inhabitants / km²
Batticaloa	Batticaloa	2,854 km²	525.186	201 inhabitants / km²
Trincomalee	Trincomalee	2,727 km²	376.366	149 inhabitants / km²

population

Children at Arugam Bay in the south of the Eastern Province

According to the 2012 census, the Eastern Province has 1,547,377 inhabitants. The population density of 165 inhabitants per square kilometer is well below the Sri Lankan average (323 inhabitants per square kilometer).

The Eastern Province is the most ethnically mixed province in Sri Lanka. According to the 2012 census, 39.8 percent of the population of the Eastern Province are Tamils (39.3 percent Sri Lankan Tamils and 0.5 percent Indian Tamils ), 36.7 percent Moors (Tamil-speaking Muslims) and 23.1 percent Sinhalese . At the same time, the ethnic groups are strongly segregated . While the inland is almost entirely Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims dominate the coastal areas. Tamil and Muslim settlement areas are demarcated from one another in small areas, so that ethnically homogeneous Tamil and Muslim areas alternate along the coastal strip.

The ethnic division of the Eastern Province is also reflected in the religious conditions, as the Tamils are predominantly Hindus , the Moors exclusively Muslims and the Sinhalese are predominantly Buddhists . There is also a smaller Christian minority among the Tamils as well as the Sinhalese . According to the 2012 census, 37.1 percent of the population of the Eastern Province are Muslims, 34.8 percent Hindus, 22.9 percent Buddhists and 5.2 percent Christians (3.0 percent of them Catholics and 2.2 percent other Christians).