Chankanai

Coordinates: 9°45′N 79°58′E / 9.750°N 79.967°E / 9.750; 79.967
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Chankanai
சங்கானை
චන්කානෛයි
Chankanai is located in Northern Province
Chankanai
Chankanai
Coordinates: 9°45′0″N 79°58′0″E / 9.75000°N 79.96667°E / 9.75000; 79.96667
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceNorthern
DistrictJaffna
DS DivisionValikamam West

Chankanai (Tamil: சங்கானை) is a town located 12 km north-west of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

Chankanai has a Peripheral Unit government hospital called Chankanai Divisional Hospital with 76 beds as of 2010.[1] It is controlled by the provincial government in Jaffna and is also the only hospital in Northern Province that provides telemetry services for neurorehabilitation.[2]

There is a church from Dutch colonial rule that was built by the Portuguese and later improved by the Dutch.[3][4][5]

Etymology[edit]

It is believed that the name Chankanai originated from its market roots. This was a famous trading place. The measurements used for rice in old era were "Changazhi" "Nazhi" and "Uzhi". The name originated from a combination of these three measuring containers.[3]

There is a similar place name found in Kerala is known as Changanassery. Both the places are related with markets and trading places.[3]

Geography[edit]

Chankanai is surrounded by Nitchamam, Thottilady, Sandilipay, Kattudai, Sithankerny.[3]

Demography[edit]

Chankanai had a population of 46,438 in the 2012 census. Most of the residents of the town are Sri Lankan Tamils, with the majority being Hindus and a few Christians. The main language spoken is Tamil. There were 1130 females for every 1,000 males, higher than the national average of 1063.[6]

A total of 7,731 were under age ten. As per the religious census of 2012, Chankanai had 93.86% Hindus, 5.85% Christians, 0.23% Buddhists, 0.03% Muslims, 0.004% following other religions.[6][7]

Religious census
Religion Percent(%)
Hindu
93.86%
Christian
5.85%
Buddhists
0.23%
Muslim
0.03%
Other
0.004%
Ethnicity (2012) Population
Sri Lankan Tamils 46,181 (99.4%)
Indian Tamils 139 (0.29%)
Sinhala 106 (0.22%)
Sri Lankan Moors 6 (0.01%)
Other (including Burgher, Malay) 6 (0.01%)
Total 46,438 (100%)

Source: statistics.gov.lk

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  2. ^ "The Neuro Rehabilitation Services at Chankanai Divisional Hospital. – International Medical Health Organization". Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  3. ^ a b c d "பிரதேச செயலகம் - சங்கானை - கண்ணோட்டம்". web.archive.org. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. ^ amazinglanka. "Ruins of the Chankanai Dutch Church in Jaffna". AmazingLanka.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  5. ^ Jayasinghe, Sagara. "Nineteenth century Catholic Church architecture in Sri Lanka: Evolution of a tropical model". Conference Proceedings International Conference on Integrated Design: Building Our Future.
  6. ^ a b "Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012" (PDF). Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-04-02.
  7. ^ "Census of Population and Housing - 2012". www.statistics.gov.lk. Archived from the original on 8 Aug 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-19.

9°45′N 79°58′E / 9.750°N 79.967°E / 9.750; 79.967