Geography of Northern Province
Northern Province is one of nine provinces of Sri Lanka and there are five districts in Northern Province, namely Jaffna, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi. Mannar & Mulative. Jaffna is the capital of the Northern Province & Jaffna district. The total population of the Northern Province records as 1.059 million according to the 2012 census.
Northern Province of Sri Lanka is located just 35km (22miles) from India. The province is surrounded by the ‘Gulf Mannar’ and ‘Palk Strait’ to the West side, Palk Strait to the North West side, the famous Bay ‘Bay of Bengal’ to the north and east. The Province has large number of Lagoons such as Jaffna Lagoon, Nanthi Kadal, Chundikulam Lagoon etc. Geographically, Northern Province is belong to dry zone as well as some parts are belong to arid zone (Mannar). Area is mostly dry but receives rains from North East Monsoon which occurs during months of November to March.
Culture & Tradition
Northern Part was repeatedly settled and invaded by Tamil migrants from southern India in history. As a result of it, it has a unique character and culture, one which owes as much to Hinduism. The best place to witness the Hindu culture and traditions. Northern Province has Tamil population of 94% are Sri Lankan Tamils according to the statistics of 2012 census. You will see hundreds of colorful Hindu Shrines & temples when we are reaching to the Northern border. Apart from Hindus, there are Muslims, Christians and minority of Buddhist live in harmony.Suburb of Jaffna, ‘ Nallur’ served as the capital for four centuries long medieval Jaffna kingdom.
During the thirty years of civil war, the ruthless terrorist group called “LTTE (Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam) occupied mainly in the North part and the whole area was defragmented along with no any development. Entire population was effected by the terrorist activities of Tamil Tigers. Prior to the civil war, Jaffna was the second most populated city after Colombo. But due to the Tamil Tigers insurgency, the city became depopulated. They claimed whole northern part and a part of Eastern for a separate state. It was a war zone during the war and thousands of residents left the area. Some moved to India while some moved to eastern and to the south. After the civil war which was ended in 2009, now this area has developed a lot and has become one of top tourist destinations in the country.
Economy
The majority of the population are mainly engaging with farming, fishing and also other civil economical professions such as service sector.
There are several attractions you can visit during an overnight trip to Jaffna, the Northern part of Island.