Eastern Province

The Eastern Province 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.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.

The province is surrounded by the Northern Province on the north, the Bay of Bengal on the east, the Southern Province on the south, and the Uva, Central and North Central provinces on the west. The province’s coast is dominated by lagoons, the largest being Batticaloa Lagoon, Kokkilai lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullackalie Lagoon.Trincomalee is the capital of the Eastern Province lying on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. Trincomalee is world famous for the natural deep water harbour. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. The city is home to the famous ancient Koneswaram temple alluded to in its historic Tamil name Thirukonamalai from which its anglicized name is derived, and has been a sea port that has played a major role in the maritime and international trading history of Sri Lanka. It is referred to as Gokanna in Pali or Gokarna in Sanskrit.

The Bay of Trincomalee harbour is renowned for its large size and security; unlike every other in the Indian Sea, it is accessible to all types of craft in all weathers. The beaches are used for urfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching. The city lso has the largest Dutch fort in Sri Lanka. It is home to major Sri Lankan naval bases and a Sri Lankan Air Force base. The town is situated on a hill at the end of a natural land formation that resembles an arc; the temple is built on Swami Rock, historically referred to as Kona-ma-Malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet directly into the sea.