Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

The Eastern Province (Tamil: கிழக்கு மாகாணம் Kiḻakku Mākāṇam; Sinhala: නැගෙනහිර පළාත Næ̆gĕnahira Paḷāta) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee. Kalmunai is the largest and most populous city of Eastern Province.

Eastern Province
கிழக்கு மாகாணம்
නැගෙනහිර පළාත
Province
Sunset over Batticaloa Lagoon
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 07°55′N 81°30′E
CountrySri Lanka
Created1 October 1833
Provincial council14 November 1987
CapitalTrincomalee
Largest CityKalmunai
Cities & Towns
List
Districts
List
Government
  TypeProvincial council
  BodyEastern Provincial Council
  GovernorSenthil Thondaman
  MPs
List
Area
  Total9,996 km2 (3,859 sq mi)
  Land9,361 km2 (3,614 sq mi)
  Water635 km2 (245 sq mi)  6.35%
  Rank2nd (15.24% of total area)
Population
 (2012 census)
  Total1,551,381
  Rank6th (7.66% of total pop.)
  Density160/km2 (400/sq mi)
Ethnicity
(2012 census)
  Sri Lankan Tamil609,584 (39.29%)
  Sri Lankan Moors569,182 (36.69%)
  Sinhalese359,136 (23.15%)
  Indian Tamil7,711 (0.50%)
  Other5,768 (0.37%)
Religion
(2012 census)
  Muslim575,936 (37.12%)
  Hindu539,570 (34.78%)
  Buddhist354,772 (22.87%)
  Christian80,801 (5.21%)
  Other302 (0.02%)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (Sri Lanka)
Post Codes
30000-32999
Telephone Codes026, 063, 065, 067
ISO 3166 codeLK-5
Vehicle registrationEP
Official LanguagesTamil, Sinhalese
Websitewww.ep.gov.lk
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.