evidence: Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழம், tamiḻ īḻam; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Eelam Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka.[5][6][7][8][9] 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.[10][11] Tamil Eelam, although encompassing the traditional homelands of Eelam Tamils,[12] does not have official status or recognition by world states. The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka, Eelam.