Kinniya

Kinniya (Tamil: ????????, Sinhala: ????????) is a town located east coast in Trincomalee District of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) from the city of Trincomalee and 240 km (150 mi) from Colombo. Located in Sri Lanka's dry zone, the Kinniya region often experiences hot and dry weather with very little precipitation. Kinniya Bridge is the Sri Lanka's longest bridge situated in kinniya, which attracts many tourists in the town. Being located on the Trincomalee Harbour, Kinniya was badly devastated by the massive tsunami that resulted from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

Kinniya has over 500 years of history. A 400-year-old Grand masjid in Kinniya was reconstructed in 2002 by the Saudi Arabian government. Most of the inhabitants from Kinniya are immigrants from Morocco, Java, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its name "Kinniya" defines the kinni tree which was the identity of the people of Kinniya once upon a time.

About Trincomalee District

Trincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka. The Bay of Trincomalee's harbour is renowned for its large size and security; unlike every other in the Indian Sea, it is accessible to all types of craft in all weathers. The beaches are used for surfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching. The city also has the largest Dutch fort in Sri Lanka. It is home to major Sri Lankan naval bases and a Sri Lankan Air Force base.

About Eastern Province

The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the North-East Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee. The Eastern province's population was 1,460,939 in 2007. The province is the most diverse in Sri Lanka, both ethnically and religiously.