Point Pedro is a town, located in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka, at the northernmost point of the island. The town came briefly under the control of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) during the early 1990s, until the Sri Lankan Army recaptured it in 1995. The place name of Point Pedro is a corruption of the Portuguese "Ponta das Pedras" meaning "the rocky cape". The name of the town in Tamil is Paruthithurai, which literally mean "Cotton Harbour". The harbour exported cotton to South India for centuries. During pre-colonial and colonial times Point Pedro was a trading port. There is a large number of people in and around Point Pedro who trace their families to local traders, called Sambangarar (ship people). The cape Sakkotei is the highest top end of North of Sri Lanka located in Point Pedro.
