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Sri Lanka

Official name:

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Name in native language:

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව

Capital:

Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte

ISO country code

LK

Nat. statistical agency:

Department of Census and Statistics

Region:

South-central Asia

Census Results

1871-03-27 : 2,400,380
1881-02-17 : 2,759,738
1891-02-26 : 3,007,789
1901-03-01 : 3,565,954
1911-03-01 : 4,106,350
1921-03-18 : 4,497,854
1931-02-26 : 5,306,863
1946-03-19 : 6,657,339
1953-03-20 : 8,097,845
1963-07-08 : 10,582,064
1971-10-09 : 12,689,897
1981-03-17 : 14,846,750
2001-07-17 : 18,793,604

the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Administrative units

province district	capital	area (sq.km.)	population 1981-03-17 census	population 2001-07-17 census	population 2010-07-01 estimate
source: Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka. note: 1 - several districts were not completely covered during the 2001 census, due to the "prevailing ground situation". The population of these districts is an estimate. note: 2 - data incomplete note: 3 - the population of the area which is administrated by Ampara district only include here. note: The area of Eragama (Irrakamam) and Navithanveli are included in Samanthurai; The area of Kalmunai is included in Sainthamarathu.
Central (Madhyama) Province	Kandy	5,674	2,009,248	2,423,966	2,689,000
Kandy	Kandy	1,940	1,048,317	1,279,028	1,431,000
Matale	Matale	1,993	357,354	441,328	497,000
Nuwara-Eliya	Nuwara-Eliya	1,741	603,577	703,610	761,000
Eastern (Negenahira) Province	Trincomalee	9,791	975,251	1,415,949	1,561,000
Ampara	Ampara	4,431	388,970	592,997	644,000
Batticaloa (1)	Batticaloa	2,633	330,333	486,447	543,000
Trincomalee (1)	Trincomalee	2,727	255,948	340,158	374,000
North Central (Uturumeda) Province	Anuradhapura	10,472	849,492	1,104,677	1,240,000
Anuradhapura	Anuradhapura	7,179	587,929	745,693	830,000
Polonnaruwa	Polonnaruwa	3,293	261,563	358,984	410,000
North-Western (Wayamba) Province	Kurunegala	7,888	1,704,334	2,169,892	2,342,000
Kurunegala	Kurunegala	4,816	1,211,801	1,460,215	1,563,000
Puttalama	Puttalama	3,072	492,533	709,677	779,000
Northern (Uturu) Province	Maangkulam	8,884	1,109,404	1,040,963	1,193,000
Jaffna (1)	Jaffna	1,025	738,788	490,621	611,000
Kilinochchi (1)	Pachchilaipali	1,279	91,764	127,263	156,000
Mannar (1)	Mannar	1,996	106,235	151,577	104,000
Mullaitivu (1)	Mullaitivu	2,617	77,189	121,667	148,000
Vavuniya (1)	Vavuniya	1,967	95,428	149,835	174,000
Province of Sabaragamuwa	Ratnapura	4,968	1,482,031	1,801,331	1,943,000
Ratnapura	Ratnapura	3,275	797,087	1,015,807	1,125,000
Kegalle	Kegalle	1,693	684,944	785,524	818,000
Southern (Dakunu) Province	Galle	5,444	1,882,661	2,278,271	2,494,000
Galle	Galle	1,652	814,531	990,487	1,084,000
Hambantota	Hambantota	2,609	424,344	526,414	571,000
Matara	Matara	1,283	643,786	761,370	839,000
Province of Uva	Badulla	8,500	914,522	1,177,358	1,326,000
Badulla	Badulla	2,861	640,952	779,983	886,000
Monaragala	Moneragala	5,639	273,570	397,375	440,000
Western (Basnahira) Province	Colombo	3,684	3,919,807	5,381,197	5,865,000
Colombo	Colombo	699	1,699,241	2,251,274	2,553,000
Gampaha	Gampaha	1,387	1,390,862	2,063,684	2,177,000
Kalutara	Kalutara	1,598	829,704	1,066,239	1,135,000
total		65,610	14,846,750	18,793,604	20,653,000

Main cities

name	population 1981-03-17 census	population 2001-07-17 census
Colombo	587,647	647,100
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia	173,529	210,546
Moratuwa	134,826	177,563
Negombo	60,762	121,701
Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte	101,039	116,366
Kandy	97,872	109,343
source: Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka.