Vavuniya District ( Vavuṉiyā Māvaṭṭam; ) 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 Vavuniya.

History Between 5th century BC and 13th century AD, present day Vavuniya District was part of the Rajarata historical region. Vavuniya District was thereafter ruled by Vanniar Chieftains who paid tribute to 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. The district, which was then called Vanni 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. Vanni District, together with Jaffna District and Mannar District, formed the new Northern Province.

Vanni District was later renamed Mullaitivu District and then Vavuniya District. At the time that Ceylon gained independence, Vavuniya was one of the three districts located in the Northern Province. Mullaitivu District was carved out of the northern part of Vavuniya District in September 1978.

Parts of Vavuniya District were under the control of rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for many years during the civil war. The entire district was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in 2008.

Geography Vavuniya District is located in the north of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province. It has an area of .

Administrative units Vavuniya District is divided into 4 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 102 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).

DS DivisionMain TownDivisional SecretaryGNDivisions Area(km2) Population (2012 Census) PopulationDensity(/km2)Sri LankanTamil Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors IndianTamil Other TotalVavuniya Vavuniya K. Uthayarajah 42 614 107,668 3,424 4,868 1,167 26 117,153 191Vavuniya North Nedunkerny K. Paranthaman 20 745 10,830 554 7 103 24 11,518 15Vavuniya South M. S. Janaka 20 200 518 12,546 3 2 1 13,070 65Venkalacheddikulam Cheddikulam N. Kamalathasan 20 408 22,253 667 6,822 20 8 29,770 73Total 102 1,967 141,269 17,191 11,700 1,292 59 171,511 87

Demographics Population Vavuniya District's population was 171,511 in 2012. The population of the district is mostly 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, though most of them have returned to the district since the end of the civil war.

Ethnicity + Population of Vavuniya District by ethnic group 1881 to 2012 Year Tamil Sinhalese Muslim Other TotalNo.No. % No. % No. % No. %1881 Census 13,164 84.55% 1,157 7.43% 1,133 7.28% 115 0.74% 15,5691891 Census 13,030 84.06% 1,199 7.73% 1,139 7.35% 133 0.86% 15,5011901 Census 12,726 83.95% 1,128 7.44% 1,069 7.05% 236 1.56% 15,1591911 Census 14,059 81.10% 1,848 10.66% 1,241 7.16% 188 1.08% 17,3361921 Census 14,978 80.07% 2,215 11.84% 1,345 7.19% 168 0.90% 18,7061946 Census 17,071 73.44% 3,870 16.65% 2,153 9.26% 152 0.65% 23,2461963 Census 51,410 75.05% 12,020 17.55% 4,900 7.15% 170 0.25% 68,5001971 Census 73,010 76.42% 15,541 16.27% 6,665 6.98% 320 0.33% 95,5361981 Census 73,133 76.26% 15,876 16.55% 6,640 6.92% 255 0.27% 95,9041990 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 129,8951998 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 129,6551999 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 132,7372000 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 145,1592001 Estimate 123,268 88.64% 12,159 8.45% 8,471 5.89% 42 0.03% 143,9402002 Estimate 121,635 84.34% 13,196 9.15% 9,389 6.51% 0 0.00% 144,2202003 Estimate 123,704 83.99% 14,386 9.77% 9,192 6.24% 0 0.00% 147,2922004 Estimate 127,604 84.43% 14,699 9.73% 8,839 5.85% 0 0.00% 151,1422005 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 180,9492006 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 182,8082007 Estimate 157,917 86.27% 13,535 7.39% 11,594 6.33% 0 0.00% 183,0462008 Estimate 152,927 86.67% 13,423 7.61% 10,090 5.72% 0 0.00% 176,4402009 Estimate 179,850 86.93% 16,177 7.82% 10,858 5.25% 0 0.00% 206,8852011 Enumeration 136,665 82.90% 16,555 10.04% 11,491 6.97% 141 0.09% 164,8522012 Census 142,561 83.12% 17,191 10.02% 11,700 6.82% 59 0.03% 171,511

Religion + Population of Vavuniya District by religion 1981 to 2012YearHinduChristianBuddhistIslamOthers TotalNo.No. % No.% No. % No. % No. %1981 Census 65,574 68.72% 7,338 7.69% 15,754 16.51% 6,740 7.06% 22 0.02% 95,4282012 Census 119,286 69.55% 22,820 13.31% 16,688 9.73% 12,341 7.20% 376 0.22% 171,511

Politics and government Local government

Vavuniya District has 5 local authorities of which one is an Urban Council and the remaining 4 are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).

Local Authority Area(km2) Population(2011) RegisteredElectors(2011)Elected Members(2011)TNA UPFA UNP SLMC Other Total Vavuniya North Divisional Council 769.60 10,392 10,955 8 4 1 0 0 13Vavuniya South Sinhala Divisional Council 188.50 12,382 9,633 0 7 1 0 1 9Vavuniya South Tamil Divisional Council 588.20 76,242 48,477 7 2 1 0 0 10Vavuniya Municipal Council 23.50 31,699 24,626 8 2 0 1 0 11Venkalacheddikulam Divisional Council 412.98 30,609 18,925 5 2 0 2 0 9Total 1,982.78 161,324 28 17 3 3 1 52

Notes

References

External links

Vavuniya District Secretariat