page_title: Tamil Eelam
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Tamil Eelam / Geography
caption_attribution_description: not a big deal, but this was the first time in decades that Point Pedro was so happening
context_page_description: Tamil Eelam is a proposed independent state that Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka, Eelam. Tamil Eelam, although encompassing the traditional homelands of Sri Lankan Tamils, does not have official status or recognition by world states. Large sections of the North-East were under de facto control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for most of the 1990s–2000s.
  In 1956, the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, the most dominant Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, lobbied for a united state that would give the minority Tamils and majority Sinhalese equal rights, including recognition of two official languages—Tamil and Sinhala—and considerable autonomy for the Tamil regions of the country. However, the Official Language Act No. 33 of 1956, more simply known as the Sinhala Only Act, was passed in the Sri Lankan Parliament in 1956.
context_section_description: Historically, Tamil settlements had been established in the dry semi-arid territories of the island. The region is subdivided into three sections, the North, the East where the majority of the native Tamils live, and the northern part of the Puthalam district which had a large Tamil influence in the pre-colonial times.
caption: The Bay of Bengal at Point Pedro, Northern province, the northernmost point of the island
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