Jaffna District ( Yāḻppāṇam Māvaṭṭam; yāpanaya 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. 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. Jaffna District, together with Mannar District and Vanni District, formed the new Northern Province. 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 . 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). The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 435 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).

History Most of the current divisions and their borders date back to Dutch colonial rule in the 18th century.

+ DS DivisionMain TownDivisional SecretaryGNDivisionsArea(km2)Population (2012 Census)PopulationDensity(/km2)Sri LankanTamil Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors IndianTamil Other TotalDelft A. Siri 6 45 3,780 38 0 1 0 3,819 85Islands North Kayts Anton Yoganayagam 15 30 9,846 129 3 19 0 9,997 333Islands South Velanai Manchulathevi Satheesan 30 78 16,379 6 125 15 0 16,525 212Jaffna Jaffna Sugunarathy Theivendram 28 17 48,413 504 1,682 104 56 50,759 2,986Karainagar Karainagar Thevanthini Babu 9 22 9,533 0 0 9 2 9,544 434Nallur Nallur Palasingam Senthilnanthanan 40 38 67,777 199 45 21 6 68,048 1,791Thenmarachchi Chavakachcheri Anjalidevi Santhaseelan 60 221 64,162 247 62 169 45 64,685 293Vadamarachchi East Maruthankerney Nadarajah Thirulinganathan 18 179 12,718 1 3 16 0 12,738 71Vadamarachchi North Point Pedro R. T. Jeyaseelan 35 29 47,183 167 12 26 1 47,389 1,634Vadamarachchi South West Karaveddy S. Sivasri 35 88 45,495 73 18 38 4 45,628 519Valikamam East Kopay Maruthalingam Pradeepan 31 102 72,908 252 101 35 2 73,298 719Valikamam North Tellippalai Kanagarajah Shrimohanan 45 57 28,179 1,336 21 4 6 29,546 518Valikamam South Uduvil M. Nanthagopalan 30 30 52,574 190 44 25 0 52,833 1,761Valikamam South West Sandilipay Subramaniyam Muralitharan 28 45 52,039 159 18 8 2 52,226 1,161Valikamam West Chankanai Shanmugarajah Balaruban 25 44 46,260 65 5 9 4 46,343 1,053Total 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. 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. Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as one million, emigrated to the West during the war. 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. + Population of Jaffna District by ethnic group 1881 to 2024YearTamilSinhaleseMuslimOtherTotalNo.No. % No. % No. % No. %1881 Census 261,902 98.61% 80 0.03% 2,648 1.00% 953 0.36% 265,5831891 Census 275,227 98.55% 131 0.05% 3,049 1.09% 877 0.31% 279,2841901 Census 296,805 98.66% 226 0.08% 3,078 1.02% 742 0.25% 300,8511911 Census 321,908 98.53% 403 0.12% 3,485 1.07% 916 0.28% 326,7121921 Census 324,874 98.29% 1,042 0.32% 3,748 1.13% 877 0.27% 330,5411946 Census 413,264 97.29% 4,546 1.07% 5,620 1.32% 1,358 0.32% 424,7881963 Census 597,920 97.50% 5,630 0.92% 8,600 1.40% 1,080 0.18% 613,2301971 Census 673,043 95.56% 20,402 2.90% 10,312 1.46% 593 0.08% 704,3501981 Census 812,247 97.73% 4,615 0.56% 13,757 1.66% 493 0.06% 831,1121997 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 466,9371998 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 457,2641999 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 491,0072000 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 502,3562001 Estimate 541,133 99.95% 49 0.01% 201 0.04% 0 0.00% 541,3832002 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 574,1642003 Estimate 590,299 99.74% 40 0.01% 1,241 0.21% 248 0.04% 591,8282004 Estimate 583,064 99.73% 88 0.02% 1,384 0.24% 131 0.02% 584,6672005 Estimate 595,651 99.69% 75 0.01% 1,705 0.29% 69 0.01% 597,5002006 Estimate 650,339 99.72% 54 0.01% 1,725 0.26% 66 0.01% 652,1842007 Enumeration 559,188 99.92% 67 0.01% 350 0.06% 14 0.00% 559,6192008 Estimate 559,665 99.91% 29 0.01% 452 0.08% 50 0.01% 560,1962009 Estimate 623,841 99.87% 26 0.00% 777 0.12% 0 0.00% 624,6442011 Enumeration 564,455 99.51% 746 0.13% 1,874 0.33% 154 0.03% 567,2292012 Census 577,745 99.03% 3,366 0.58% 2,139 0.37% 128 0.02% 583,3782024 Census586,49198.61%3,3950.57%3,9470.66%9180.15%594,751

Religion + Population of Jaffna District by religion 1971 to 2024YearHinduChristianBuddhistMuslimOthersTotalNo.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% 704,3501981 Census 705,705 84.97% 104,766 12.61% 5,104 0.61% 14,844 1.79% 133 0.02% 830,5522008 Estimate 484,308 86.45% 75,357 13.45% 29 0.01% 452 0.08% 50 0.01% 560,1962012 Census 483,900 82.95% 94,146 16.14% 2,533 0.43% 2,455 0.42% 344 0.06% 583,3782024 Census489,52182.30%98,05416.49%2,7880.47%4,3520.73%360.01%594,751

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).

Local AuthorityArea(km2)Population(2011)RegisteredElectors(2011)Elected Members(2011)TNA UPFA UNP Other TotalChavakacheri Divisional Council 200.90 48,166 37,015 12 2 1 0 15Chavakacheri Urban Council 31.29 15,780 10,987 9 2 0 0 11Delft Divisional Council 47.16 3,861 3,085 1 8 0 0 9Jaffna Municipal Council 20.20 76,080 100,417 9 13 0 1 23Karainagar Divisional Council 21.74 9,505 8,140 3 1 1 0 5Kayts Divisional Council 45.11 10,534 6,349 1 4 0 0 5Nallur Divisional Council 20.59 36,472 22,012 10 2 0 0 12Point Pedro Divisional Council 220.00 39,651 25,375 7 2 0 0 9Point Pedro Urban Council 4.62 12,161 7,376 7 2 0 0 9Vadamarachchi South West Divisional Council 68.95 45,386 32,539 15 3 0 0 18Valikamam East Divisional Council 102.20 70,064 46,570 16 5 0 0 21Valikamam North Divisional Council 58.50 26,049 63,224 15 6 0 0 21Valikamam South Divisional Council 33.26 51,612 32,857 13 3 0 0 16Valikamam South West Divisional Council 55.24 50,971 31,022 12 4 0 0 16Valikamam West Divisional Council 47.30 45,983 30,214 11 3 0 0 14Valvettithurai Urban Council 5.36 8,382 5,550 7 2 0 0 9Velanai Divisional Council 94.80 16,572 12,028 3 8 0 0 11Total 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. The twinning was intended to build “greater understanding and sharing knowledge” in the fields of governance, healthcare and education.

Notes

References

External links

Jaffna District Secretariat