Valikamam (; ) is one of the three historic regions of Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. The other two regions are Thenmarachchi and Vadamarachchi. Alternative spellings include Valikaamam or Valigamam.
The name Valikamam () translates to "the sandy village", whereas denotes the geographical marker.
It is derived from the words:
The word is no longer in common use but was historically found in Eezham Tamil place names. It shares linguistic roots with , , and . The word has been found in early Tamil inscriptions, including an 11th-century record at Velgam Vihara, Trincomalee, and a 12th-century Chola inscription at Thiruvalangadu, where Valikamam is explicitly mentioned as a village.
The name Valikamam is also linguistically equivalent to Manaltidar or Manarridal, the ancient Tamil names for Jaffna, which carry the same meaning of "sandy land."
According to the 16th-century Tamil literary work Santiago Kumara Ammanai, Valikamam was historically referred to
The village Mallakam (), located in Valikamam North, derives its name from: - â a personal title associated with royalty or warriors, originating from the Sanskrit , meaning wrestler or great person. This term was commonly used by Pallava rulers and medieval Sri Lankan kings, such as Nissanka Malla (12th century).
Valikamam is currently divided into 6 Divisional Secretariats, each of which is further subdivided into 190 Grama Niladhari (GN) divisions. Every Divisional Secretariat has its own Divisional Council, which is elected every four years through local government elections.