Mullaitivu District ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு மாவட்டம் ''Mullaittīvu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මුලතිවු දිස්ත්රික්කය) is one of the 25
districts of
Sri Lanka, the second level
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
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
Mullaitivu
Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, translit=Mullaittīvu; si, මූලදූව, translit=Mūladūva) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely ...
.
History
Parts of present-day Mullaitivu District was part of the pre-colonial
Jaffna kingdom. The district then came under
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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 Vanni 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. Vanni District, together with
Jaffna District and
Mannar District
Mannar District ( ta, மன்னார் மாவட்டம் ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; si, මන්නාරම දිස්ත්රික්කය) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative divisi ...
, formed the new
Northern Province.
Vanni District was later renamed Mullaitivu District and then
Vavuniya District
Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municipality is administered by Va ...
. The district was colonised in the second half of the 18th century by residents from
Jaffna Peninsula, primarily from
Alaveddy
Alaveddy ( ta, அளவெட்டி, translit=Aḷaveṭṭi; si, ඇලවැද්ද, translit=Ælavædda) is an area of South-West Valigamam (Valikamam) Division, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. It consists of five village tracts: Alaveddy N ...
,
Udupiddy and
Navaly.
At the time that
Ceylon gained independence, Vavuniya was one of the three districts located in the Northern Province. Mullaitivu District was carved out of the northern part of Vavuniya District together with parts of the then Jaffna District, Mannar District and
Trincomalee District
Trincomalee District ( ta, திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம் ''Tirukōṇamalai Māvaṭṭam;'' si, ත්රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්රික්කය ''Trikuṇāmalaya distrikkaya'') is one ...
in September 1978.
Mullaitivu District was under the control of rebel
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
for many years during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. The district was recaptured by the
Sri Lankan military in early 2009.
Geography
Mullaitivu District is located in the north east of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province. It has an area of .
Administrative units
Mullaitivu District is divided into 6
Divisional Secretary's Division
The districts of Sri Lanka are divided into administrative sub-units known as ''divisional secretariats''. These were originally based on the feudal counties, the ''korale''s and ''rata''s. They were formerly known as 'D.R.O. Divisions' after the ...
(DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary (previously known as an Assistant Government Agent).
The DS Divisions are further sub-divided into 136
Grama Niladhari
''Grama Niladhari'' (''village officers'') ( si, ග්රාම නිලධාරී) is a Sri Lankan public official appointed by the central government to carry out administrative duties in a ''grama niladhari'' division, which is a sub-un ...
Divisions (GN Divisions).
[
]
Demographics
Population
Mullaitivu District's population was 91,947 in 2012.[ The population of the district is mostly Sri Lankan Tamil.
The population of the district, like the rest of the north and ]east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
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
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
or to the West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
during the war. Many Sri Lankan Tamils also moved to the relative safety of the capital Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...
. 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, though most of them have returned to the district since the end of the civil war.
Ethnicity
Religion
Politics and government
Local government
Mullaitivu District has four local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
all of which are Divisional Councils (Pradesha Sabhai or Pradeshiya Sabha).[
]
Notes
References
External links
Mullaitivu District Secretariat
{{Northern Province, Sri Lanka topics
1978 establishments in Sri Lanka
Districts of Sri Lanka