Municipal councils of Sri Lanka
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There are 24 Municipal councils in Sri Lanka, which are the legislative bodies that preside over the largest cities and first tier municipalities in the country.[1] Introduced in 1987 through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, municipal councils became a devolved subject under the Provincial Councils in the Local Government system of Sri Lanka.[2] Until 2025 municipal councils collectively governed 4.19 million people within a 698 square kilometre area. There were 445 Councillors in total, ranging from 53 to 9 per council.[3][4][5]
The last council to be created was Polonnaruwa Municipal Council on 30 June 2017, bifurcated from Thamankaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha.[6]
Municipal councils
- Parties
United National Party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi National Congress Sri Lanka Freedom Party National People's Power (NPP) Independent Samagi Jana Balawegaya
| Province | District | Municipal council | Municipality | Established/ Elevated |
No. of Councillors |
Mayor | Area (km2) [N 1][3] |
Population (2024)[7] |
Website | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western | 1 | Colombo | 1 | Colombo | Colombo | 1865 | 117 (2) | (List) | 37 | 394,533 | cmc.lk | |
| 2 | Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia | Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia | 1959 | 54 (6) | (List) | 21 | 138,460 | dmmc.lk | ||||
| 3 | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 1997 | 39 (1) | (List) | 17 | 77,162 | kotte.mc.gov.lk | ||||
| 4 | Kaduwela | Kaduwela | 2011 | 47 (1) | (List) | 87 | 204,547 | kaduwela.mc.gov.lk | ||||
| 5 | Moratuwa | Moratuwa | 1997 | 52 (4) | (List) | 23 | 122,567 | moratuwa.mc.gov.lk | ||||
| 2 | Gampaha | 6 | Negombo | Negombo | 1950 | 49 (1) | (List) | 31 | 117,756 | negombo.mc.gov.lk | ||
| 7 | Gampaha | Gampaha | 28 (2) | (List) | 38 | 53,775 | gampaha.mc.gov.lk | |||||
| North Western | 3 | Kurunegala | 8 | Kurunegala | Kurunegala | 1952 | 22 (1) | (List) | 11 | 21,621 | kurunegala.mc.gov.lk | |
| Central | 4 | Kandy | 9 | Kandy | Kandy | 1865 | 46 (5) | (List) | 27 | 85,000 | www | |
| 5 | Matale | 10 | Matale | Matale | 1947 | 22 (1) | (List) | 26 | 31,888 | |||
| 11 | Dambulla | Dambulla | 2011 | 22 (1) | (List) | 58 | 20,267 | |||||
| 6 | Nuwara Eliya | 12 | Nuwara Eliya | Nuwara Eliya | 1949 | 25 (2) | (List) | 12 | 19,274 | nuwaraeliya.mc.gov.lk | ||
| Uva | 7 | Badulla | 13 | Badulla | Badulla | 27 (2) | (List) | 10 | 34,842 | |||
| 14 | Bandarawela | Bandarawela | 2011 | 16 (1) | (List) | 27 | 20,481 | |||||
| Southern | 8 | Galle | 15 | Galle | Galle | 36 (1) | (List) | 17 | 75,429 | galle.mc.gov.lk | ||
| 9 | Matara | 16 | Matara | Matara | 30 | (List) | 13 | 60,976 | ||||
| 10 | Hambantota | 17 | Hambantota | Hambantota | 2011 | 21 | (List) | 83 | 18,759 | |||
| Sabaragamuwa | 11 | Ratnapura | 18 | Ratnapura | Ratnapura | 27 (2) | (List) | 20 | 39,381 | |||
| North Central | 12 | Anuradhapura | 19 | Anuradhapura | Anuradhapura | 26 (3) | (List) | 36 | 38,188 | |||
| 13 | Polonnaruwa | 20 | Polonnaruwa | Polonnaruwa | 2017 | 16 (5) | (List) | 30.29 | 27,791 | https://mcpolonnaruwa.lk/ | ||
| Northern | 14 | Jaffna | 21 | Jaffna | Jaffna | 1949 | 45 | (List) | 20 | 63,045 | jaffnamc.lk | |
| Eastern | 15 | Batticaloa | 22 | Batticaloa | Batticaloa | 1967 | 34 (4) | (List) | 75 | 70,124 | www | |
| 16 | Ampara | 23 | Kalmunai | Kalmunai | 2001 | 41 | (List) | 23 | 99,893 | |||
| 24 | Akkaraipattu | Akkaraipattu | 2011 | 22 (2) | (List) | 7 | 27,760 | |||||
- National People's Power (86.95%)
- Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (8.69%)
- National Congress (4.34%)
Notes
- ^ 2012
See also
References
- ^ "Compilation of Local Authority" (PDF). Ministry of Local Government & Provincial Councils. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- ^ "Local government". Ministry of Local Government & Provincial Councils. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Area, Population, Registered voters and Employees of Municipalities, 2011 – 2012" (PDF). Statistics Statistical Abstract 2013. Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "Local Government Statistics, 2012" (PDF). statistics.gov.lk/. Department of Census and Statistics. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ "2024 Electoral Register, 2024(1), 2024(2), 2024(3) Supplementary Electoral Registers – Number of Registered Electors" (PDF). elections.gov.lk. May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
- ^ "City Of Polonnaruwa To Be Elevated To Municipal Council". Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Live Sri Lanka Local Government Election Results 2025 | Real-Time Results". results.elections.gov.lk. Retrieved 25 June 2025.