Kilinochchi ෴ කිලිනොච්චි

Kilinochchi Kilinochchi Kilinochchi

Kilinochchi is the main town of Kilinochchi District, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Kilinochchi is situated at the A9 road some 100 km (62 mi) south-east of Jaffna. It was the administrative center and de facto capital of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers)[1] until 2 January 2009, when troops of the Sri Lankan Army recaptured the city.

The Kilinochchi town was established in 1936 as part of a colonization project that sought to ease overpopulation and unemployment in Jaffna. Kilinochchi is still part of Jaffna electoral division and it was separated from the Jaffna district in the 1980s as a new district. Most of the people living in this district are farmers and related to agricultural work. Most of the people were migrated from Jaffna 1930s to acquire government grants for land and to engage in paddy (rice) cultivation. Large influx of migration from Hill country into Kilinochchi happened in 1970s. They were then migrated overseas (Europe, US, Canada, Australia, etc.) during the civil war (1990 onward). The population is rising again after the end of the civil war.

Sri Lankan Civil War

The LTTE first took hold of the town in 1990 when the Army withdrew its garrisons from Kilinochchi. Then the area was retaken by the Army during operations Sathjaya I, II, and III in September 1996. The town again fell into the LTTE's hand in September 1998 who held their administrative hub there until retreating during the Battle of Kilinochchi on 2 January 2009.

Several institutions of the LTTE were forced to relocate from Kilinochchi to Tharmapuram, a town about 13 km in the east, by early October, 2008 in fear of death by advancing government troops. Security Forces Headquarters – Kilinochchi was established on June 29, 2009, in the town.

About Kilinochchi District

Kilinochchi 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 town of Kilinochchi.

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.

Kilinochchi Kilinochchi Kilinochchi


【Text by Lakpura™. Images by Google, copyright(s) reserved by original authors.】
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