Jaffna

Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna’s suburb Nallur served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Tamil Jaffna Kingdom.

Prior to the Sri Lankan Civil War, it was Sri Lanka’s second most populous city after Colombo..

The majority of the city’s population are Sri Lankan Tamils with a significant number of Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Tamils and other ethnic groups present in the city prior to the civil war. Most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus followed by Christians, Muslims and a small Buddhist minority. The city is home to a number of educational institutions established during the colonial and post-colonial periods. It also has a number of commercial institutions, minor industrial units, banks, hotels and other government institutions. It is home to many historical sites such as the popular Jaffna Library which was burnt down and rebuilt and the Jaffna Fort which was rebuilt during the Dutch colonial period.