Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Eastern Province
கிழக்கு மாகாணம்
නැගෙනහිර පළාත
Sunset over Batticaloa Lagoon
Sunset over Batticaloa Lagoon
Location within Sri Lanka
Location within Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 07°55′N 81°30′E / 7.917°N 81.500°E / 7.917; 81.500
CountrySri Lanka
Created1 October 1833
Provincial council14 November 1987
CapitalTrincomalee
Largest CityKalmunai
Cities & Towns
Districts
Government
 • TypeProvincial council
 • BodyEastern Provincial Council
 • GovernorJayantha Lal Ratnasekera
 • MPs
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)[2]
 • Total1,551,381
 • Rank6th (7.66% of total pop.)
 • Density160/km2 (400/sq mi)
Ethnicity
(2012 census)[2]
 • 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)[3]
 • 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

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.[4][5] 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.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 2012eth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2012rel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Provinces of Sri Lanka". Statoids.
  5. ^ "Provincial Councils". Government of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2009-07-07.

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