Eelam

Eelam (Tamil:ஈழம், īḻam, also transcribed as Eezham, Ilam or Izham) is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

Since the 1980s the words Eelam and Eelavar have been taken up by the Sri Lankan Tamil irredentist movement. In this usage, Eelam refers to Tamil Eelam, an area corresponding to the former Jaffna Kingdom. Eelavar refers to the inhabitants of Tamil Eelam.