District Data

Vavuniya in the northern lowlands of Sri Lanka is approximately 300km from the capital city of Colombo. The district of Vavuniya is bordered by four districts; Mullaitivu on the North, Anuradhapura on the South, Mullaitivu and Mannar on the West and Trincomalee and Anuradhapura on the East.

Vavuniya’s population of 144601 (as of November 30, 2001) consists of 8% Muslim, 12% Sinhalese and 80% Tamil. A considerable part of the Tamil population is composed of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from both within the district and outside. The Tamil population in the district can be further categorised as upcountry (Indian) Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils. However, as District Secretary of Vavuniya K. Ganesh explained, “At the moment, we don’t distinguish between the upcountry [Tamils] and the Sri Lankan Tamils because they [upcountry Tamils] are also registered as Sri Lankan citizens.”

Vavuniya’s population consists of 74% Hindu, 9% Roman Catholic, 8% Buddhist, 6% Muslim, 2% Other Christians and 0.02% other.

The district consists of three divisional secretariats (under government control): Vavuniya, Vavuniya South and Cheddikulam, while Vavuniya North is located in the LTTE controlled area. Currently (as of September 2001), 80 of the 102 Grama Niladhari Divisions are controlled by the Government while the remaining 22 are under LTTE control.

Vavuniya is a central location in the transport of food and civilians between the government controlled and LTTE controlled areas. All movements take place through the only checkpoint at Piramanalankulam, 15km from Vavuniya town.