Tamil Eelam தமிழீழம் tamiḻ īḻam
Flag
Ethnic groups		Tamil
Area
-	Total	19,5091 km2  7,532.467 sq mi
Population
-	2001 census	3,162,254[1]
-	Density	162/km2  419.6/sq mi
1	Area calculated from statoids.com, including all districts of North Eastern Province and Puttalam District in North Western Province.

Part of a series on

Sri Lankan Tamil people ஈழத் தமிழர்

History

Eelam · Jaffna kingdom · Vannimai Eastern Tamils · Aryacakravarti Vanniar · Portuguese conquest

Culture

Dance · Dress Literature · Music · Media

Religion

Hinduism Catholicism · Protestanism

Society

East coast Veddas · Karaiyar Koviar · Mukkuvar · Nalavar Panchamar · Vellalar

Languages and dialects

Negombo Tamil · Jaffna Tamil Batticaloa Tamil

Politics

Nationalism · ACTK · FP · TULF Tamil Eelam · Militancy · Civil war

Diaspora

Australia · Canada · Germany India · Malaysia · United Kingdom United States

v • d • e

Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழம், tamiḻ īḻam, generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம ^[2]) is the name given by certain Tamil groups in Sri Lanka to the state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for island of Sri Lanka: Eelam. One Tamil group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are considered a terrorist organization and banned in 31 countries including the United States, India, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Australia, ran a de facto state in large parts of the north and east of Sri Lanka. Starting in early 2009 the Sri Lankan army began an all out assault on Tamil Eelam that resulted in the collapse of LTTE conventional ground forces. The last remaining area of Sri Lanka that was controlled by the LTTE, a small coastal strip just north of Mullaithivu bordering the Nathikandal lagoon, fell on 18th May 2009. Most of the senior civil and military leadership of Tamil Eelam, including their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, were said to have perished by the Sri Lankan military during this last stand. The body of Velupillai Prabhakaran has been recovered.[3] Since May 2009 the state of Tamil Eelam has ceased to be a physical entity and is now only a political aspiration held by some sections within the global Tamil community.^{[citation needed]}