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Vavuniya
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 Partial aerial view of Vavuniya | |
  Vavuniya Vavuniya City Show map of Greater Vavuniya Vavuniya Vavuniya (Northern Province) Show map of Northern Province Vavuniya Vavuniya (Sri Lanka) Show map of Sri Lanka Vavuniya Vavuniya (Asia) Show map of Asia | |
| Coordinates:8°45′0″N80°29′0″E / 8.75000°N 80.48333°E /8.75000; 80.48333 | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Northern |
| District | Vavuniya |
| DS Division | Vavuniya South (Tamil) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Council |
| • Chairman | Gowthaman (TNA) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 22.4896 km2 (8.6833 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 200 m (660 ft) |
| Demonyms |
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| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone) |
| Postal code | 43000 |
| Website | VUC |
Vavuniya (Tamil:வவுனியா,romanized: Vavuniyā,Sinhala:වවුනියාව,romanized: Vavuniyāva) is a city inVavuniya District in theNorthern Province ofSri Lanka. The municipality is administered by aMunicipal Council. The town has been known since ancient times, but being a heavily forested area, less than 100,000 people lived in the entire district before theSri Lankan Civil War. The city is situated as a border town that divides theTamil andSinhalese population. To the south of the city are the Sinhala cities, and to the north are the Tamil cities. The city has a large population of Tamils,Muslims, and a significant number of Sinhalese. In the early days, Vavuniya was known as Vanni due to the abundance ofVanni Trees. TheSecurity Forces Headquarters - Wanni is located in Vavuniya.
This city has a long history of being ruled by the Tamil kings, who built many tanks and placed Naga Sacred Guard Stones near them with inscriptions. They inherited the city from the ancient Yaka and Nagas of Sri Lanka. Later, the city became part of the Rajarata kingdom after the arrival of the Sinhalese Ancestor or Exiled Aryan (Vijaya) to Sri Lanka. The city experienced a revival of Hinduism (Shaivism) and Tamil culture after the Chola invasion and reformed as Vanni under the rule of Vanni Chieftains. However, the Cholas were soon defeated by the Pandya in Tamil Nadu, and the city fell under their control when they invaded Sri Lanka. The Pandya lost their power in Sri Lanka when the Vijayanagar Dynasty invaded and dispersed them. The Vanni Chieftains (Aryans), who had come with the Cholas, broke away from the Pandya and formed their own Vanni nation (Not a nation but a collection of small nations), which was loyal to the central government. The Vanni resisted the Portuguese occupation but succumbed to the Dutch invasion despite the heroism of Pandara Vanniyan. The city then came under British rule when the Dutch were succeeded by the British in Sri Lanka at the start of the 19th century.
The British granted independence to Sri Lanka, but the Sinhalese oppression sparked a war that forced many affluent people to migrate abroad or to Vavuniya. Vavuniya is a city that was heavily affected by the war but has since recovered. Now, Tamils, Muslims, and Sinhalese live together without distinction. The district recently got its own university (University of Vavuniya), and there are plans to upgrade the district airport to an international airport.
Vavuniya has atropical savanna climate (Köppen:As)[1] with warm to hot temperatures throughout the year and a distinctwet season from October to December. Temperatures are cooler from November to February compared to the rest of the year.
| Climate data for Vavuniya (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.0 (93.2) | 36.0 (96.8) | 38.8 (101.8) | 40.1 (104.2) | 38.8 (101.8) | 38.5 (101.3) | 38.8 (101.8) | 38.4 (101.1) | 39.1 (102.4) | 38.1 (100.6) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.0 (91.4) | 40.1 (104.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.9 (85.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 34.3 (93.7) | 34.9 (94.8) | 34.3 (93.7) | 34.4 (93.9) | 34.7 (94.5) | 34.6 (94.3) | 34.5 (94.1) | 32.6 (90.7) | 30.6 (87.1) | 29.6 (85.3) | 33.0 (91.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.5 (77.9) | 26.4 (79.5) | 28.4 (83.1) | 29.5 (85.1) | 29.7 (85.5) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.9 (85.8) | 29.7 (85.5) | 29.6 (85.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 26.7 (80.1) | 25.8 (78.4) | 28.3 (82.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21.1 (70.0) | 22.4 (72.3) | 24.0 (75.2) | 25.0 (77.0) | 25.1 (77.2) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 23.6 (74.5) | 22.7 (72.9) | 21.9 (71.4) | 23.4 (74.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) | 10.5 (50.9) | 13.4 (56.1) | 15.3 (59.5) | 17.8 (64.0) | 18.8 (65.8) | 18.2 (64.8) | 18.2 (64.8) | 18.5 (65.3) | 16.0 (60.8) | 16.5 (61.7) | 13.0 (55.4) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 107.0 (4.21) | 76.2 (3.00) | 43.1 (1.70) | 123.1 (4.85) | 95.4 (3.76) | 21.1 (0.83) | 36.9 (1.45) | 63.9 (2.52) | 88.7 (3.49) | 230.0 (9.06) | 276.0 (10.87) | 249.1 (9.81) | 1,410.5 (55.53) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 7.1 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 9.2 | 5.8 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 13.3 | 17.1 | 12.5 | 88.0 |
| Source:NOAA[2] | |||||||||||||
The total population of the Northern Province, as per the statistics, is 1.246 million, the least populous province in the country, with 606,678 males (47.3%) and 639,775 females (52.7%). The population density is 136 persons per Sq. km as against 346 for the whole Island. The majority of the province lives in areas classified as rural (84.5%), and only 15.5% of the population lives in areas classified as urban. The majority of the population, i.e., 89% in the province, are Sri Lankan Tamils, and others are Sri Lankan Moors, Sinhalese, and Indian Tamils living in the province. Most of the Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus, and the other religious persuasions in the province are Christians, Muslims, and a small number of Buddhists. The graph here shows the difference in ethnic composition from province to district to city. While usually, the city usually shows a more cosmopolitan nature than the province. The Vavuniya city reflects the composition of the district quite closely, even more so than the provincial percentages.
| Ward Number | Area |
|---|---|
| 1 | Thandikkulam |
| 2 | Paddanichipuliyankulam |
| 3 | Pandarikulam |
| 4 | Vairavarpuliyankulam |
| 5 | Kudiyiruppu |
| 6 | Kadai Veethi |
| 7 | Moondru Muripu |
| 8 | Rambaikulam |
| 9 | Sinnaputhukkulam |
| 10 | Kovilkulam |
Vavuniya railway station, which is located on theNorthern Line connectsKankesanthurai (the northern terminus of the line) through toColombo.[3] During thecivil war Vavuniya was the terminus of the Northern Line.Vavuniya airport, which is anair force base and adomestic airport is also located here.[4] Vavuniya is situated in the middle of the Vanni region and is the gateway to the northern province, where people can access all the northern cities quickly.
Vavuniya is divided into 4 educational divisions, such as Vavuniya North, Vavuniya South, Vavuniya South-Sinhala division, and Chettikulam. Vavuniya City comes under the Vavuniya South Division.
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