Jaffna Peninsula

The Jaffna Peninsula (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாண குடாநாடு Yálpána Kudánádu) is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna kingdom.

The ancient name for the Jaffna peninsula was Nāka-Tivu and Nāka-Nadu, meaning Nāka island (Tivu) or country (Nadu), mentioned in the Vallipuram gold plate inscriptions and the Manimekalai. It is also called Nagadipa or Naka-diva, mentioned in the Mahavamsa.Cīttalai Cāttanār, the author of the Manimekalai reflected Tamilakam's perception at the time that Nāka-Nadu was an autonomous administrative entity, kingdom or nadu, distinguished and separate from Ilankatipam, (also referred to as Irattinatipam) - Lanka.

Northern and Eastern coast of the peninsula were badly affected by tsunamis, especially of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; this includes the villages in the Northern coast from Thondaimanaru to Thumpalai and Eastern coast from Vallipuram to Kuddarappu. The damage to the eastern coast was higher than that of northern coast. Fisheries sectors of this district were badly affected. Estimation of damages caused to different sectors has not been completed.

Available data revealed that a total of 2,640 people lost their lives while 1,647 were injured and 1,204 are missing. 37,255 people belonging to 9,885 families were displaced, of which 15,034 people belonging to 4,038 families are living in the welfare camps and the balance 22,221 people belonging to 5,847 families are living with their friends and relatives. People displaced from the coastal villages of Kankesanthurai, Myliddy and Palali due to the formation heavy security zone are not yet settled in the above villages and are facing difficulties without homes and jobs. Fisheries and agriculture sector in the above villages are affected badly and Sri Lankan government has no plan to improve the living standards of these conflict affected zones..

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