Abstract:
Eastern province is located in the east part of coastal region of Sri Lanka. It is one o f the
richest provinces in terms of hs resources during pre-war situation. Eastern province is
included three districts as Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee and it has an area of 9950
km2 with a 2010 population of 1,561,000. This province contributes IS per cent and 7.5 per
cent of total area and total population of Sri Lanka, respectively. GDP contribution of
eastern province is 6 per cent to the national level in 2010 (Central Bank, 2011).
Ampara is one of the three districts of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Ampara district,
until 1961, was the south eastern part of Batticaloa district. Then, in 1961, Ampara was
carved out as a separate district. Ampara District has an area of 4431.4 km2 with a 2010
population of 668,170 consisting of the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil communities. These
ethnic communities are living in the district with ethnic ratios of 42.53 per cent Muslim,
38.88 per cent Sinhala, 18.39 per cent Tamils and 0.20 per cent others. The main livelihood
opportunity of the people in the district is agriculture, especially paddy cultivation. As
Ampara district is situated in the dry zone of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, the
conditions of climate are varied on the basis of their physical aspects. The mean temperature
in the district was 28.3° C in 2010. Rainfall is the main source of water available in the
district of Ampara, with an average of 1600 m.m-2500m.m rainfall in a year. (Planning
Secretariat, Ampara, 2010).
