Trincomalee District

Trincomalee District (Tamil: திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம் Tirukkōṇamalai Māvaṭṭam; Sinhala: ත්‍රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය Trikuṇāmalaya 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 Trincomalee.

Trincomalee District
திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம்
ත්‍රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය
Administrative District
Trincomalee Bay
Trincomalee Bay
Location within Sri Lanka
Location within Sri Lanka
Administrative units of Trincomalee District in 2006
Administrative units of Trincomalee District in 2006
Coordinates: 08°35′N 81°05′E
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceEastern
CapitalTrincomalee
DS Division
List
  • Gomarankadawala
  • Kantalai
  • Kinniya
  • Kuchchaveli
  • Morawewa
  • Muttur
  • Padavi Siripura
  • Seruvila
  • Thampalakamam
  • Trincomalee Town & Gravets
  • Verugal & Eachchalampattu
Government
 • District SecretaryJ. S. D. M. Asanka Abeywardena
 • MPs
List
 • MPCs
List
  • A. W. G. M. Galappaththy
  • J. Janarthanan
  • K. P. P. P. Kumara
  • M. N. Abdul Majeed
  • A. R. Mohamed
  • S. L. M. H. Moulavi
  • K. Nageswaran
  • S. Thandayuthapani
  • N. G. W. M. J. Wijesekara
Area
 • Total2,727 km2 (1,053 sq mi)
 • Land2,529 km2 (976 sq mi)
 • Water198 km2 (76 sq mi)  7.26%
 • Rank11th (4.16% of total area)
Population
 (2012 census)[1]
 • Total378,182
 • Rank21st (1.87% of total pop.)
 • Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Ethnicity
(2012 census)[1]
 • Moor163,982 (40.43%)
 • Sri Lankan Tamil115,549 (30.55%)
 • Sinhalese101,991 (26.97%)
 • Indian Tamil6,531 (1.73%)
 • Other1,257 (0.33%)
Religion
(2012 census)[2]
 • Muslim166,200 (42.12%)
 • Buddhist98,772 (26.12%)
 • Hindu98,133 (25.95%)
 • Christian21,892 (5.79%)
 • Other134 (0.04%)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka)
Post Codes
31000-31999
Telephone Codes026
ISO 3166 codeLK-53
Vehicle registrationEP
Official LanguagesTamil, Sinhala
WebsiteTrincomalee District Secretariat

Geography

Trincomalee District is located in the east of Sri Lanka in the Eastern Province. It has an area of 2,727 square kilometres (1,053 sq mi).[3]

Etymology
Early maps of Trincomalee
1562 Ruscelli map after Ptolemy
Ptolemy's map of Taprobana of 140 CE in a 1562 Ruscelli publication. From the Shiva footprint of Ulipada of Malea mountains (Sivan Oli Pada Malai) rises three rivers, including the Mavillie-Gangai (Mahavali-Ganges) whose tributary Barraces river's estuary into the Indian Ocean is just south of Bocana (Ko-Kannam bay) where the temple is illustrated. Just above, both cartographers mention Abaratha Ratchagar, another name of Lord Shiva – a temple with this name is also found in Aduthurai, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, near the early Chola capital.
1502 Cantino map
Cantino map of 1502, showing three Tamil towns on east coast, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee (Traganamalee) and Pannoam.

Trincomalee

The city has developed from a village settlement on the promontory dedicated to the Hindu shrine. The origin of the term Ko, Kone and Konatha lies in the Old Tamil word for the terms "Lord", "King" or "Chief", which allude to the deity that presides here; this term appears in several Tamil Brahmi inscriptions of the 6th century BCE — 2nd century CE. Trincomalee, the coastal peninsula town where Koneswaram is located is an anglicized form of the old Tamil word "Thiru-kona-malai" (Tamil: திருகோணமலை), meaning "Lord of the Sacred Hill", its earliest reference in this form found in the Tevaram of the 7th century by Sambandhar. Thiru is a generally used epithet denoting a "sacred" temple site while Malai means mountain or hill; Middle Tamil manuscripts and inscriptions mention the monumental compound shrine as the Thirukonamalai Konesar Kovil.[4][5][6][7] Kona (Tamil: கோண) has other meanings in Old Tamil such as peak, while another origin for the term Koneswaram could come from the Tamil term Kuna (East). Therefore, other translators suggest definitions of Trincomalee such as "sacred angular/peaked hill", "sacred eastern hill" or "three peaked hill".[8][9][10] The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.[4][11][12]

Administrative units

Trincomalee District is divided into 11 Divisional Secretary's Division (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).[13] The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 230 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).[13]

DS Division Main Town Divisional Secretary GN
Divisions
 Area
(km2)
[14]		 Population (2012 Census)[15] Population
Density
(/km2)
Sri Lankan MoorsSri Lankan
Tamil		SinhaleseIndian
Tamil		OtherTotal
GomarankadawalaGomarankadawalaS. M. C. Samarakoon102881257,313007,33925
KantalaiKantalaiK. Premadasha234045,1081,53437,4482,4787346,641115
KinniyaKinniyaM. A. Anas3116558,4472,522193,4451864,451391
KuchchaveliKuchchaveliP. Thaneswaran2443821,30710,5531,19340733,10076
Morawewa (Muthalikkulam)MorawewaW. M. Bathiya Vijayantha103291,3008885,750357,94624
MutturMutturV. Yoosuf4219534,98420,93544441256,379289
Padavi SiripuraSiripuraV. P. S. Jinadrasena1015211011,8460111,85878
SeruvilaSeruvilaP. R. Jayarathna173112,4261,8169,2933813,54644
Thampalakamam (Thambalagamuwa)ThampalakamamJ. Sripathy1222616,1644,7017,47601528,356125
Trincomalee Town & GravetsTrincomaleeJ.H.Arulraj4214813,11361,28221,1795461,11497,234657
Verugal & EachchalampattuVerugalP. Thanesvaran971311,2833012411,332160
Total2302,727152,854115,549101,9916,5311,257378,182139

Demographics

Population

Trincomalee District's population was 378,182 in 2012.[1]

The population of the district, like the rest of the east and north, has been heavily affected by the civil war. The war killed an estimated 100,000 people.[16] Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as one million, emigrated to the West during the war.[17]

Ethnicity
Population of Trincomalee District by ethnic group 1827 to 2012[1][18][19]
Year Muslim[lower-alpha 1] Tamil[lower-alpha 2] Sinhalese Other Total
No.
No.%No.%No.%No.%
18273,24516.94%15,66381.76%2501.30%00.00%19,158
1881 Census5,74625.89%14,30464.44%9354.21%1,2125.46%22,197
1891 Census6,42624.96%17,11766.49%1,1054.29%1,0974.26%25,745
1901 Census8,25829.04%17,06059.98%1,2034.23%1,9206.75%28,441
1911 Census9,70032.60%17,23357.92%1,1383.82%1,6845.66%29,755
1921 Census12,84637.66%18,58054.47%1,5014.40%1,1853.47%34,112
1946 Census23,21930.58%33,79544.51%11,60615.29%7,3069.62%75,926
1953 Census28,61634.10%37,51744.71%15,29618.23%2,4882.96%83,917
1963 Census40,77529.43%54,45239.30%39,92528.82%3,4012.45%138,553
1971 Census59,92431.83%71,74938.11%54,74429.08%1,8280.97%188,245
1981 Census75,03929.32%93,13236.39%85,50333.41%2,2740.89%255,948
2001 Census[lower-alpha 3]n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
2007 Enumeration151,69245.37%96,14228.75%84,76625.35%1,7630.53%334,363
2012 Census152,85440.42%122,08032.29%101,99126.97%1,2570.33%378,182

Religion
Population of Trincomalee District by religion 1981 to 2012[2][20]
Year Islam Buddhist Hindu Christian[lower-alpha 4] Others Total
No.
No.%No.%No.%No.%No.%
1981 Census76,40429.85%82,60232.27%80,84331.59%15,5836.09%5160.20%255,948
2012 Census159,25142.11%98,77226.12%98,13325.95%21,8925.79%1340.04%378,182

Poverty

In 2016, the district was one of the poorest in Sri Lanka and had the third-highest incidence of extreme poverty according to the World Bank.[21]

Politics and government

Local government

Trincomalee District has 13 local authorities of which two are Urban Councils and the remaining 11 are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).[22]

Local Authority Area Population Registered
Electors
(2011)		 Elected Members (2011)
UPFATNAUNPOtherTotal
Gomarankadawala Divisional Council5,83180109
Kantalai Divisional Council397.348,63230,898803011
Kinniya Divisional Council16,62650207
Kinniya Urban Council9.544,03421,06950117
Kuchchaveli Divisional Council333.329,96720,87262109
Morawewa Divisional Council116.010,0008,65960309
Muttur Divisional Council179.460,00037,731731011
Padavi Siripura Divisional Council217.113,0008,36260129
Seruvila Divisional Council277.013,8869,13071109
Thampalakamam Divisional Council244.033,96717,12560309
Trincomalee Town and Gravets Divisional Council31,79135109
Trincomalee Urban Council7.5101,95831,927281112
Verugal Divisional Council5,89415017
Total245,9157024195118

Notes
  1. Sri Lankan Moors and Indian Moors.
  2. Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil.
  3. 2001 Census was only carried out partially in Trincomalee District.
  4. Roman Catholic and Other Christian.

References
  1. "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  2. "A3 : Population by religion according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  3. "Area of Sri Lanka by province and district" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-13.
  4. E Greig, Doreen (1987). "The reluctant colonists: Netherlanders abroad in the 17th and 18th centuries". U.S.A.: Assen, The Netherlands; Wolfeboro, N.H., U.S.A.: 227. OCLC 14069213. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Sivaratnam, C (1964). An outline of the cultural history and principles of Hinduism (1 ed.). Colombo: Stangard Printers. OCLC 12240260. Koneswaram temple. Tiru-Kona-malai, sacred mountain of Kona or Koneser, Iswara or Siva. The date of building the original temple is given as 1580, BCE. according to a Tamil poem by Kavi Raja Virothayan translated into English in 1831 by Simon Cassie Chitty...
  6. Herbert Keuneman; John Gottberg; Ravindralal Anthonis; Hans Hoefer (1985). Sri Lanka (3 ed.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong : Apa Productions (HK); [Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Distributed by] Prentice Hall, 1985. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-13-839944-3. OCLC 13501485.
  7. Indrapala, Karthigesu (2007). The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa. p. 324. ISBN 978-955-1266-72-1.
  8. Ramachandran, Nirmala (2004). The Hindu legacy to Sri Lanka. Pannapitiya: Stamford Lake (Pvt.) Ltd. 2004. ISBN 978-955-8733-97-4. OCLC 230674424.
  9. Taylor, Isaac (1843). Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature. London: BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 308. ISBN 0-559-29668-1.
  10. Room, Adrian (2006). Placenames of the world : origins and meanings of the names for 6,600 countries, cities, territories, natural features, and historic sites (2 ed.). London: Jefferson, N.C.; London : McFarland & Co., cop. 2006. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-7864-2248-7. OCLC 439732470.
  11. "Tirukōṇa-malai (Trincomalee), Kīri-malai, Kutirai-malai". TamilNet. July 1, 2007.
  12. "Aayiththiyamalai". TamilNet. October 24, 2010.
  13. "Overview". Trincomalee District Secretariat.
  14. "Land area by province, district and divisional secretariat division" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15.
  15. "A6 : Population by ethnicity and district according to Divisional Secretary's Division, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  16. "Up to 100,000 killed in Sri Lanka's civil war: UN". ABC News (Australia). 20 May 2009.
  17. Harrison, Frances (23 July 2003). "Twenty years on – riots that led to war". BBC News.
  18. "Special Enumeration 2007, Trincomalee" (PDF). Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  19. "Demographic Changes by the LTTE Peace Secretariat, April 2008" (PDF). Sangam.
  20. "Population by religion and district, Census 1981, 2001" (PDF). Statistical Abstract 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15.
  21. "Geospatial Poverty Portal: Interactive Maps". World Bank. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  22. "Local Authorities". Trincomalee District Secretariat.
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