Kilinochchi District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kilinochchi District
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Location within Sri Lanka
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| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Northern |
| Created | February 1984 |
| Capital | Kilinochchi |
| Population | |
| • Total | 112,875 |
| Official Languages | Tamil, Sinhala |
Kilinochchi District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka. Kilinochchi District is part of the Northern Province. The capital of the district is the town of Kilinochchi. It has an area of 1,279 square kilometres (494 sq mi).
Contents
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 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.
Population
Kilinochchi District's population was 112,875 in 2011. The population of the district is almost exclusively Sri Lankan Tamil. The people 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.
Images for kids
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A LTTE parade in Killinochchi, 2002
See also
In Spanish: Distrito de Kilinochchi para niños
