Chankanai (Tamil: சங்கானை) is a town located 12 km (7.5 mi) north-west of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Chankanai
சங்கானை චන්කානෛයි | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 9°45′0″N 79°58′0″E / 9.75000°N 79.96667°E | |
Country | Sri Lanka |
Province | Northern |
District | Jaffna |
DS Division | Valikamam West |
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
editIt 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
editChankanai is surrounded by Nitchamam, Thottilady, Sandilipay, Kattudai, Sithankerny.[3]
Demography
editChankanai 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]
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- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ "The Neuro Rehabilitation Services at Chankanai Divisional Hospital. – International Medical Health Organization". Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ a b c d "பிரதேச செயலகம் - சங்கானை - கண்ணோட்டம்". 2019-03-28. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ amazinglanka. "Ruins of the Chankanai Dutch Church in Jaffna". AmazingLanka.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing - 2012". www.statistics.gov.lk. Archived from the original on 8 Aug 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-19.