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Eastern

Bordered by the Northern Province to the north, Southern Province to its south, the Bay of Bengal on the east, and the Central, North Central and Uva provinces to the west, the Eastern Province (capital Trincomalee) includes Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts. The country’s most diverse province, both in religion and ethnicity, it is central to the country’s tourism industry for its numerous scenic beaches, and resorts located mostly in serene lagoons, which have made inroads into the province’s coastline, as also the beautiful 17th century Batticaloa fort. The other significant income for both the province and the country comes from Trincomalee Harbour, which is an important hub for commercial trade, both domestic and international. The Eastern Province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province (to become the North Eastern Province) in 1988, and regained its original status in 2006. Control of much of the Province was lost by the central government during the Civil war, which ended in 2007.

LSE Research, Commentary and Analysis

  • Demonic Violence and Moral Panic in Post-War Sri Lanka: Explaining the “Grease Devils”: Venugopal, R. (2015)

    Sociology, Violence

    — Journal of Asian Studies
  • Democracy, Development and the Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka: Venugopal, R. (2015)

    Democracy, Development, Politics

    — Third World Quarterly
  • Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: Venugopal, R. (2018)

    International Relations, Politics, Sociology

    — Cambridge University Press
  • Ethnic Domination under Liberal Democracy in Sri Lanka: Venugopal, R. (2022)

    Democracy, Politics

    — Journal of Contemporary Asia

State Facts & Figures

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