Kilinochchi District ( Kiḷinocci 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 town of Kilinochchi.

History

Between 5th century BC and 13th century AD present day Kilinochchi District was part of Rajarata. Much of Kilinochchi 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. The district, which was then part of 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.

The district was colonised in 1936 by residents from Jaffna Peninsula as part of a scheme that sought to ease overpopulation and unemployment. At the time that Ceylon gained independence, Jaffna was one of the three districts located in the Northern Province. Parts of Jaffna 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.

Kilinochchi District was under the control of rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for many years during the civil war. The district was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in late 2008/early 2009.

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

Administrative units Kilinochchi 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 95 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).

DS Division Main Town Divisional SecretaryGNDivisions Area(km2) Population (2012 Census) PopulationDensity(/km2)Sri LankanTamil IndianTamil Sinhalese Sri Lankan Moors Other TotalKandavalai Kandavalai T. Mugunthan 16 318 22,920 7 58 17 1 23,003 72Karachchi Kilinochchi G. Nageswaran 42 358 58,901 1,501 533 178 24 61,137 171Pachchilaipalli Pallai Sivapathasundram Sathiyaseelan 18 164 8,274 6 222 8 0 8,510 52Poonakary Poonakary K. S. Vasanthakumar 19 439 19,433 168 149 475 0 20,225 46Total 95 1,279 109,528 1,682 962 678 25 112,875 88

Demographics Population Kilinochchi District's population was 112,875 in 2011. 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 + Population of Kilinochchi District by ethnic group 1981 to 2012 Year Tamil Sinhalese Muslim Other TotalNo.No. % No. % No. % No. %1981 Census 89,197 97.33% 741 0.81% 1,567 1.71% 136 0.15% 91,6411999 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 156,4282000 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 154,0152001 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 148,0522002 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 153,7212003 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 140,1452004 Estimate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 140,9202005 Estimate 165,781 99.77% 2 0.00% 383 0.23% 0 0.00% 166,1662006 Estimate 196,611 99.78% 2 0.00% 424 0.22% 0 0.00% 197,0372007 Estimate 195,386 99.78% 2 0.00% 424 0.22% 0 0.00% 195,8122008 Estimate 190,599 99.78% 2 0.00% 424 0.22% 0 0.00% 191,0252009 Estimate 22,099 93.54% 1 0.00% 1,525 6.46% 0 0.00% 23,6252011 Enumeration 102,779 99.10% 138 0.13% 774 0.75% 26 0.03% 103,7172012 Census 111,210 98.52% 962 0.85% 678 0.60% 25 0.02% 112,875

Religion There are 92,986 Hindus in Kilinochchi District.Also ''18,499 Christians, 1275 Buddhists, 700 Muslims and 50'' Other Religious people in Kilinochchi District

Poverty In 2016 the district was the poorest in Sri Lanka and had the highest incidence of extreme poverty according to the World Bank.

Politics and government Local government Kilinochchi District has three local authorities all of which are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).

Local Authority Area(km2) Population(2011) RegisteredElectors(2011)Elected Members(2011)TNA UPFA Total Karachchi Divisional Council 620.66 76,770 42,800 15 4 19Pachchilaipalli Divisional Council 167.70 7,641 7,116 6 3 9Poonakary Divisional Council 478.73 19,306 11,301 6 4 10Total 1,267.09 103,717 61,217 27 11 38

Notes

References

External links

Kilinochchi District Secretariat