Northern Province

The Northern 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 Eastern Province to form the North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Jaffna. The majority of the Sri Lankan Civil War was played out in this province.

The Northern Province is Sri Lanka’s Tamil country and, for several decades, was mostly under the control of the Tamil Tigers. Despite some investment in the region, the area is noticeably poorer than the rest of Sri Lanka; there are few jobs and industries other than agriculture.The scars of the Civil War are still laid bare and you will find many shelled out buildings, (largely unmanned) security checkpoints and areas that are still mined.Culturally, the region is a fusion of Sri Lanka and India. If you have travelled around the South of India, you’ll find many similarities in culture, behaviour, manner, and especially food and music.Tamil is the dominant language. English proficiency levels are lower than other parts of the country, but you will still be able to get by, especially in larger settlements.The people are welcoming and friendly, like in the rest of the country, but they are a lot less smiley than in other parts. But please bear in mind that they continue to face severe hardship and while life is better now than before, there is still work to be done for them to feel truly equal with their fellow citizens in other provinces.