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Sri Lanka: cities by population

Sri Lanka has a population of 21,670,000, with Colombo as its capital. The 50 largest of its 88 recorded towns and cities, ranked.

Figures are the latest available in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), which draws on national censuses of varying dates — treat them as recent, not same-year. Country totals are GeoNames country data. Sources & method.

#	Place	Region	Population
1	Colombo	Western Province	648,034
2	Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia	Western Province	219,827
3	Maharagama	Western Province	195,355
4	Jaffna	Northern Province	169,102
5	Moratuwa	Western Province	168,280
6	Negombo	Western Province	137,223
7	Pita Kotte	Western Province	118,179
8	Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte	Western Province	115,826
9	Kandy	Central Province	111,701
10	Trincomalee	Eastern Province	108,420
11	Kalmunai	Eastern Province	100,171
12	Galle	Southern Province	93,118
13	Point Pedro	Northern Province	89,810
14	Batticaloa	Eastern Province	86,742
15	Katunayaka	Western Province	84,643
16	Ambalantota	Southern Province	80,506
17	Valvedditturai	Northern Province	78,205
18	Matara	Southern Province	76,254
19	Battaramulla South	Western Province	75,633
20	Dambulla	Central Province	66,716
21	Kolonnawa	Western Province	64,887
22	Kotikawatta	Western Province	64,565
23	Anuradhapura	North Central Province	60,943
24	Vavuniya	Northern Province	60,176
25	Beliatta	Southern Province	58,675
26	Hendala	Western Province	56,978
27	Ambalangoda	Southern Province	56,783
28	Ratnapura	Sabaragamuwa Province	47,832
29	Badulla	Uva Province	47,587
30	Pottuvil	Eastern Province	45,727
31	Puttalam	North Western Province	45,661
32	Devinuwara	Southern Province	45,000
33	Ampara	Eastern Province	43,720
34	Welisara	Western Province	41,306
35	Kalutara	Western Province	37,081
36	Bentota	Southern Province	37,000
37	Matale	Central Province	36,462
38	Mannar	Northern Province	35,817
39	Homagama	Western Province	34,664
40	Beruwala	Western Province	34,250
41	Panadura	Western Province	33,735
42	Mulleriyawa	Western Province	33,540
43	Kandana	Western Province	33,424
44	Ja Ela	Western Province	32,175
45	Wattala	Western Province	30,725
46	Mullaittivu	Northern Province	28,973
47	Kelaniya	Western Province	28,846
48	Peliyagoda	Western Province	28,784
49	Kurunegala	North Western Province	28,571
50	Nuwara Eliya	Central Province	27,500

Twenty years earlier: Sri Lanka in the 2005 World Gazetteer — population then 19,466,567.