Vavuniya
| Vavuniya வவுனியா වවුනියාව |
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| State : |
 Sri Lanka
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| Province : | Northern Province | ||
| District : | Vavuniya | ||
| Residents: | 63,981 (calculated in 2007) | ||
Vavuniya ( Tamil : வவுனியா Vavuṉiyā [ ˈʋaunijaː ], Sinhala : වවුනියාව Vavuniyāva [ ʋauniˈjaːʋə ]) is a city in the northern province of Sri Lanka . It is the administrative center of the predominantly by Tamils inhabited district Vavuniya and a transportation hub on the way to northern Sri Lanka. Between 1983 and 2009, Vavuniya was affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka .
geography
Vavuniya is located in the south of the northern province near the border with the north-central province 58 kilometers north of Anuradhapura and 140 kilometers south of Jaffna . The distance to the capital Colombo is 260 kilometers. To the north of Vavuniya extends the roughly 100 kilometers wide, relatively dry and sparsely populated Vanni area.
population
According to the 2001 census, Vavuniya has 53,237 inhabitants, but the population fluctuated considerably during the war. The city has a majority Tamil settled: The population of Vavuniya Division (Vavuniya town and surrounding area) make according to the census in 2012 Tamils, 93 percent of the population. There are also smaller minorities of Tamil-speaking Muslims or Moors (four percent) and Sinhalese (three percent). However, Vavuniya is located directly on the border between the Tamil and Sinhalese settlement areas: the Vavuniya South division, which is adjacent to the south, already has 96 percent Sinhala residents.
history
Vavuniya 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 . The city itself was the main garrison of the Sri Lankan army and has always remained under the control of the government. The northern part of the Vavuniya district, however, was fought over between government troops and the rebel organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In November 1999, more than three-quarters of the city's residents fled when the LTTE threatened to attack the city. When a ceasefire was signed between the government and the rebels in February 2002, the demarcation line at Omanthai ran 14 kilometers north of Vavuniya. Since 2007 the government has tried again to solve the Tamil problem by military means. The civil war ended on May 18, 2009 with massive military force. Numerous people fled the fighting areas south, where they were held in refugee camps in the vicinity of Vavuniya.
During the civil war, some aid organizations were busy with basic supplies for the population or with demining services in the area. After the tsunami of December 26, 2004 , which in Sri Lanka mainly affected the east and south of the island, numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) coordinated their aid in the affected areas from Vavuniya. The economic effects of the large number of foreign helpers and the financial resources available to them were reflected in higher prices in general and especially in the service sector. The prices for overnight stays and rents have been adapted to demand. The German Red Cross has had an office in the city for years, the UNHCR operated its largest station here after the tsunami, together with Colombo and Jaffna.
traffic
Vavuniya is an important traffic junction and the gateway to the north of Sri Lanka: the northern line of the Sri Lankan Railways and the most important road connection to the north, the A9, which leads from Kandy in the center of the country to Jaffna, run through the city. In addition, in Vavuniya roads branch off to Mannar on the west coast and Trincomalee on the east coast. Passage restrictions on the A9 made Vavuniya a bottleneck in the ongoing civil war, but after the end of the conflict the road was reopened and modernized. Rail traffic to Jaffna was suspended north of Vavuniya during the civil war. Trains have been running to Jaffna again since 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Department of Census and Statistics: Population by ethnic group according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012 .
- ^ Tamil rebels advance on key town. BBC, Nov 12, 1999
- ^ Fabian Kröger: Sri Lanka before the outbreak of war. Telepolis, March 19, 2007
- ↑ The flow of refugees in Sri Lanka continues. augsburger-allgemeine.de, May 21, 2009 ; “It wasn't a war against the Tamils.” Der Tagesspiegel, May 20, 2009
- ^ Mine Action in Vavuniya District. January 30, 2003
