An analysis of ethnic composition of Tamil-majority districts indicates that between 1953 and 1981 Sinhalese population in the Trincomalee District increased by 465%, while the Tamil population increased by only 149% during the same period.7 Moreover, the Sinhalese population in the Eastern Province, as a whole, increased by 435% while the Tamil population increased by a mere 145% during the same period. In the Northern Province, Sinhalese population increased by 137%, while the Tamil population increased by only 92% during the same period. Moreover, the Tamil population did not exceed 10% of the total population in any of the Sinhalese-majority districts in 1981, whereas the Sinhalese population in the Tamil-majority districts of Vavuniya, Trincomalee, and Amparai are as high as 16.55%, 33.62%, and 37.5%, respectively. Indeed, Sinhalese colonization has changed the ethnic composition of Tamil-majority districts and reduced the size of the area Sri Lankan Tamils regard as their traditional homeland