Kalmunai ( ta, கல்முனை, translit=Kalmuṉai; si, කල්මුනේ, translit=Kalmunē) is a major city in

Ampara District Ampara District ( ta, அம்பாறை மாவட்டம், translit=Ampāṟai Māvaṭṭam; si, අම්පාර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, translit=Ampāra Distrikkaya) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the se ...

. It is the largest city of

Eastern Province, Sri Lanka The Eastern Province ( ta, கிழக்கு மாகாணம் ''Kiḻakku Mākāṇam''; si, නැගෙනහිර පළාත ''Næ̆gĕnahira Paḷāta'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative d ...

. It had a total population of 106,780 as of 2011. It is one of the few Muslim-majority municipalities in the country. When Muslims in Colombo were expelled by Portuguese in the 17th century, they fled to Kandy and sought refuge with

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Rajasinha II King Rajasinghe II, also known as Rajasingha II (pre coronation, Prince Deva Astana), was a Sinhalese King, reigned 1629 – 6 December 1687; third king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Rajasingha requested Netherlands, Dutch aid to help exp ...

, who resettled these refugees in Kalmunai (8,000 refugees) and

Kattankudy Kattankudy ( ta, காத்தான்குடி, si, කාත්තාන්කුඩි; also transliterated as "Kathankudy") is a township near the city of Batticaloa on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. The town is predominantly popula ...

(4,000). Kalmunai was the site of the royal farm, as a result of this settlement, it became a Muslim-majority area. There were

Sri Lankan Muslims Islam is the third largest religion in Sri Lanka with about 9.7 percent of the total population. The main Muslim concentrations occur in Eastern Province. In other areas, such as in the cities of the western, north western and central Sri Lan ...

, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese, and Burghers with the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

forming a majority. It consists of four major regions namely Kalmunai city (Thalavatuvan Junction to Tharavai kovil Road), Kalmunai South ( almunaikudy Kalmunai North (Pandiruppu, Maruthamunai, and Neelavanai), Kalmunai Out City ( Sainthamaruthu) and Kalmunai West (Natpittimunai, Chenaikudiruppu). The devastating Sri Lankan civil war has adversely affected the area with number a

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a State (polity), state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or po ...

s, and civil unrest targeting the local civilians. The city was also severely impacted by the

2004 Tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Su ...

, leading to many deaths and property destruction running into the millions of rupees. The city is bounded on the east by the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

on the north by the Periyaneelavanai village and on the south by Karaitivu village which is considered to be a suburb of the city.Wiki-map Kalmunai
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References

{{Authority control Kalmunai Muslim DS Division Cities in Sri Lanka Populated places in Ampara District Kalmunai Tamil DS Division Sainthamaruthu DS Division

See also

References