On the tenth day of April 1961, according to the Government Gazette, a part of the Batticaloa district was broken off and named Ampara District. Twenty years later Maha Oya, Padiyatalawa and Dehiattakandiya were broken away from Moneragala district and attached to Ampara district. That is how the current 20-Divisional-Secretariat and 504-Grama-Niladhari-Division Ampara district came to be.

Creation of the Ampara district was more or less a result of the surge in population following the
implementation of the Gal Oya Board project.

As in any other district the chief government officer for civil administration and development is the District Secretary or the Government Agent, simply the GA. There are 18 local authorities in Ampara: One Municipal Council (Kalmuna), one Urban Council (Ampara) and 16 Pradesheeya Sabha. There are so many government departments like Irrigation and Education, and many other agencies like Electricity and Road Development,located in Ampara.