Batticaloa District ( ; ) 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 Batticaloa. Ampara District was carved out of the southern part of Batticaloa District in April 1961.

Geography Batticaloa District is located in the east of Sri Lanka in the Eastern Province. It has an area of .

Administrative units Batticaloa District is divided into 14 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 346 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GN Divisions).

DS DivisionMain TownDivisional SecretaryGNDivisionsArea(km2)Population (2012 Census)PopulationDensity(/km2)Sri LankanTamil Sri Lankan Moors Sinhalese Burgher Other TotalEravurpattu Chenkalady U. Uthayashreethar 39 695 60,278 12,617 2,040 119 82 75,136 108Eravur Town Eravur S. L. M. Haneefa 15 3 3,287 21,075 191 69 10 24,632 8,211Kattankudy Kattankudy S. H. Muzammil 18 6 14 40,201 11 0 11 40,237 6,706Koralaipattu Valaichchenai T. Dinesh 12 35 22,799 77 339 82 20 23,317 666Koralaipattu Central Pasikudah Nihara Mowjood 9 80 583 24,961 57 36 6 25,643 320Koralaipattu North Vakarai S. R. Rahulanayahi 16 589 20,519 698 288 5 2 21,512 37Koralaipattu South Kiran K. Thanapalasundaram 18 582 25,820 18 87 0 136 26,061 45Koralaipattu West Oddamavadi M. C. Ansar 8 17 65 22,070 7 0 2 22,144 1,303Manmunai North Batticaloa Srineevasan Gridaran 48 68 76,898 4,569 1,340 2,473 748 86,028 1,265Manmunaipattu Araiyampathy V. Arulrajah 27 37 22,994 7,520 35 2 32 30,583 827Manmunai South & Eruvilpattu Kaluvanchikudy S. Suthakar 45 63 60,457 12 192 5 28 60,694 963Manmunai South West Kokkadichcholai V. Thavarajah 24 145 23,653 5 1,005 1 9 24,673 170Manmunai West Vavunathivu V. Thavarajah 24 352 28,199 13 180 0 0 28,392 81Porativupattu Vellavely Nallaiya Vilvaretnam 43 182 35,719 8 355 2 6 36,090 198Total 346 2,854 381,285 133,844 6,127 2,794 1,092 525,142 184

Demographics Population Batticaloa District's population was 525,142 in 2012. The population of the district is mostly Sri Lankan Tamil.

The population of the district, like the rest of the east and north, was affected by the civil war. The war killed an estimated 100,000 people. Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as many as one million, emigrated to the West during the war. Many Sri Lankan Tamils also moved to the relative safety of the capital Colombo. The war also caused many people from all ethnic and religious groups who lived in the district to flee to other parts of Sri Lanka, though most of them have returned to the district since the end of the civil war.

Ethnicity + Population of Batticaloa District by ethnic group 1881 to 2012Year TamilMoorSinhalese Other TotalNo.No. % No. % No. % No. %1881 Census 61,014 57.80% 37,255 35.29% 5,012 4.75% 2,277 2.16% 105,5581891 Census 69,584 56.71% 44,780 36.50% 6,403 5.22% 1,932 1.57% 122,6991901 Census 79,857 55.01% 54,190 37.33% 7,575 5.22% 3,539 2.44% 145,1611911 Census 83,948 54.53% 60,695 39.43% 5,771 3.75% 3,529 2.29% 153,9431921 Census 84,665 53.35% 63,146 39.79% 7,243 4.56% 3,655 2.30% 158,7091946 Census 102,264 50.33% 85,805 42.23% 11,850 5.83% 3,267 1.61% 203,1861953 Census 130,381 48.20% 106,706 39.45% 31,174 11.52% 2,232 0.83% 270,4931963 Census 141,110 71.93% 46,038 23.47% 6,715 3.42% 2,326 1.19% 196,1891971 Census 181,527 70.71% 60,889 23.72% 11,548 4.50% 2,757 1.07% 256,7211981 Census 237,787 71.98% 78,829 23.86% 11,255 3.41% 2,462 0.75% 330,3332001 Census2001 Census was only carried out partially in Batticaloa District. n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a2007 Enumeration 381,984 74.05% 128,964 25.00% 2,397 0.46% 2,512 0.49% 515,8572012 Census 382,300 72.80% 133,844 25.49% 6,127 1.17% 2,871 0.55% 525,142

Religion + Population of Batticaloa District by religion 1981 to 2012Year Hindu IslamChristian Buddhist Others TotalNo.No. % No.% No. % No. % No. %1981 Census 218,812 66.24% 78,810 23.86% 23,499 7.11% 9,127 2.76% 85 0.03% 330,3332012 Census 338,983 64.55% 133,939 25.51% 46,300 8.82% 5,787 1.10% 133 0.03% 525,142

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

Politics and government Local government Batticaloa District has 12 local authorities of which one is a Municipal Council, two are Urban Councils and the remaining nine are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).

Local Authority AreaPopulationRegisteredElectors(2008)Elected Members (2008)TMVP UPFA SLMC UNP Other Total Batticaloa Municipal Council 54,948 0 11 1 0 7 19Eravurpattu Divisional Council 585.70 77,203 45,336 10 1 2 0 1 14Eravur Urban Council 4.90 40,819 16,522 0 6 2 0 1 9Kattankudy Urban Council 6.50 46,597 26,454 0 6 1 0 2 9Koralaipattu Divisional Council 242.00 125,000 41,858 6 2 2 0 1 11Koralaipattu North Divisional Council 645.00 21,202 12,419 10 1 0 0 0 11Koralaipattu West Divisional Council 25.00 29,614 17,885 0 7 1 1 0 9Manmunaipattu Divisional Council 21.50 30,218 18,759 7 0 2 0 0 9Manmunai South & Eruvilpattu Divisional Council 44.17 70,256 38,386 7 0 0 0 3 10Manmunai South West Divisional Council 161.60 25,279 14,880 8 0 0 0 1 9Manmunai West Divisional Council 292.65 30,026 15,771 6 0 0 0 3 9Porativupattu Divisional Council 176.00 49,066 28,116 7 0 0 0 2 9Total 61 34 11 1 21 128

Notes

References

External links

Batticaloa District Secretariat