Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழம் tamiḻ īḻam, generally rendered as தமிழ் ஈழம் outside Tamil-speaking areas) is a proposed independentstate that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and many Tamils in the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka.[5][6][7][8][9] The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka, Eelam. Tamil Eelam, although encompassing the traditional homelands of Sri Lankan Tamils,[10] 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 (LTTE) for most of the 1990s–2000s during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
