INTRODUCTION TO MANNAR

Mannar district is located in the North West of Sri Lanka in the Northern Province, covering a land area of 2,002 sq. km. The District is bordered by the Kilinochchi District to the North, Mullaitivu District to the North East & East, Vavuniya District to the South East, Anuradhapura and Puttalam Districts to the South and Indian Ocean to the West. Mannar district has a marine coast line with a stretch of 163 km, from Theavanpiddi in the North to Mullikkulam in south.  The District comprises of five Divisional Secretariat Divisions, namely, Mannar, Manthai West, Madhu, Nanaddan and Musali, which further sub-divided into 153 GN Divisions. Mannar District is one of the poorly developed and less populated districts in the country. The district has 5 local authorities of which one is an Urban Council and the remaining four are “PradeshyaSabhas”. Most productive fishing ground lie in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. The Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar coastal waters over continental shelf contain a variety of species of fin fish, shell fish and holothurians.

                               

 1.2: The population in the Mannar Region

According to latest statistics (March, 2012), there are about 159,437people living in the divisional secretariat divisions shown in below figure. The majority of the population here is Sri Lankan Tamil (69.52%), but there are also Muslims (30.17%), and Sinhalese (0.31%) {Statistical hand book,2011}.

1.3: The climate in the Mannar Region

The area is mainly in the dry and arid zone of the country, where mean annual rainfall is between 700-1,000 mm. The main rainy season is the north east monsoon from October to April which accounts for about 60-70% of the annual rainfall. Sometimes, minor rains are received from the south west monsoon during May to September. Long periods of drought exceeding 200 days per year are common in the area.

The mean annual temperature is more than 28⁰C. Generally, the hottest month in the Mannar is May, and the temperature ranges from 25-29⁰C with higher temperatures normally recorded between May and August.

1.4: Soils in the Mannar Region

The terrain of the district is flat and gently undulating. The soils in the Mannar District are Reddish Brown  Earths,  Low  HumicGley  soils,  Red  Yellow  Latosols,  Regosols,  Solodized-  Solonetz, Solonchaks and Grumosols. Regosol soil is mainly found in the Mannar Island and Red Yellow latosols are found distinctively in coastal regions.