Municipal councils of Sri Lanka
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There are 27 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]
Polonnaruwa Municipal Council was created on 30 June 2017, bifurcated from Thamankaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha.[6]
A extraordinary gazette was published in 2022 to upgrade existing urban councils to municipal councils for the localities of Puttalam, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Kegalle and Kalutara. Following the conclusion of the Local Government elections in 2025, the municipal councils for the new localities commenced operations.
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 (87.0%)
- Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (8.69%)
- National Congress (4.34%)
Notes
- ^ 2012
See also
References
- ^ "Compilation of Local Authority" (PDF). Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- ^ "Local government". Ministry of Local Government and 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.
External links
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