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Updates: 

The Department of Census and Statistics has released final figures for the 2012 census (source [12]). I have used them to replace the provisional figures previously displayed.

Update 1 to the U.S. standard "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" is dated 2010-08-20. It recognizes Eastern and Northern as separate provinces.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number II-1, dated 2010-02-03, has changes to the listing for Sri Lanka, but nothing that affects data reported on this site. The prefix LK- is explicitly added to each province code. Province and district names are given in a new romanization system.

Sri Lanka's standard time was UTC+5:30 from the adoption of standard time in 1906 until 1996. In 1996, it was moved ahead one hour, and then back a half hour. The LTTE ("Tamil Tigers") ignored the changes, and in areas under their control, UTC+5:30 continued to be observed. Finally, Sri Lanka set its clocks back half an hour at 0:30 on 2006-04-15, from UTC+6 to UTC+5:30. That change put the entire country back in synch.

The Department of Census and Statistics has assigned hierarchical subdivision codes . The first digit of the census code is the same as the ISO code for the province containing the district. These codes match the ISO code for the district, except for four districts in Northern province; even in those districts, the first digit of the ISO code matches the ISO code for the province. The census codes apply to the 2001 census only; different codes may be used in other years.

Country overview: 

Short name	SRI LANKA
ISO code	LK
FIPS code	CE
Language	Sinhala (si), Tamil (ta), English (en)
Time zone	+5:30
Capital	Colombo

 

Ceylon was a British colony at the beginning of the 20th century. It became an independent member of the Commonwealth on 1948-02-04. On 1972-05-22, it became a republic and changed its English name to Sri Lanka.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Sri Lanka, Ceylon (obsolete)
2. Dutch: Srilanka, Sri Lanka, Democratische Socialistische Republiek Sri Lanka (formal)
3. English: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formal), Ceylon (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Sri Lanka
5. French: Sri Lanka m
6. German: Sri Lanka n
7. Icelandic: Srí Lanka
8. Italian: Sri Lanka m
9. Norwegian: Den demokratiske sosialistiske republikk Sri Lanka (formal) (Bokmål), Den demokratiske sosialistiske republikken Sri Lanka (formal) (Nynorsk), Sri Lanka
10. Portuguese: Seri Lanca, Sri Lanka, República f Democrática Socialista do Sri Lanka m (formal), Ceilão m (obsolete)
11. Sinhala: Sri Lanka Prajathanthrika Samajavadi Janarajaya (formal)
12. Russian: Демократическая Социалистическая Республика Шри-Ланка (formal), Цейлон (obsolete)
13. Spanish: Sri Lanka, República f Socialista Democrática de Sri Lanka m (formal), Ceilán (obsolete)
14. Swedish: Sri Lanka
15. Turkish: Sri Lanka Demokratik Sosyalist Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

Sri is an honorific title; Lanka is the name of a mythical island country mentioned in the Ramayana

Primary subdivisions: 

Sri Lanka is divided into 25 distrikkaya (districts).

District	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Pab	Pc	CC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Prov
Ampara	LK.AP	52	CE01	APR	32	52	649,402	2,984	1,152	5
Anuradhapura	LK.AD	71	CE02	AD	50	71	860,575	7,128	2,752	7
Badulla	LK.BD	81	CE03	BD	90	81	815,405	2,818	1,088	8
Batticaloa	LK.BC	51	CE04	BC	30	51	526,567	2,463	951	5
Colombo	LK.CO	11	CE23	CO	10	11	2,324,349	642	248	1
Galle	LK.GL	31	CE06	GL	80	31	1,063,334	1,673	646	3
Gampaha	LK.GQ	12	CE24	GQ	11	12	2,304,833	1,393	538	1
Hambantota	LK.HB	33	CE07	HB	82	33	599,903	2,593	1,001	3
Jaffna	LK.JA	41	CE25	JA	40	41	583,882	1,114	430	4
Kalutara	LK.KT	13	CE09	KT	12	13	1,221,948	1,606	620	1
Kandy	LK.KY	21	CE10	KY	20	21	1,375,382	2,365	913	2
Kegalle	LK.KE	92	CE11	KE	71	92	840,648	1,663	642	9
Kilinochchi	LK.KL	42				45	113,510	1,171	452	4
Kurunegala	LK.KG	61	CE12	KG	60	61	1,618,465	4,771	1,842	6
Mannar	LK.MB	43	CE26	MB	41	42	99,570	1,963	758	4
Matale	LK.MT	22	CE14	MT	21	22	484,531	1,987	767	2
Matara	LK.MH	32	CE15	MH	81	32	814,048	1,246	481	3
Moneragala	LK.MJ	82	CE16	MJ	91	82	451,058	7,133	2,754	8
Mullaitivu	LK.MP	45	CE27	MP	42	44	92,238	1,580	610	4
Nuwara Eliya	LK.NW	23	CE17	NW	22	23	711,644	1,228	474	2
Polonnaruwa	LK.PR	72	CE18	PR	51	72	406,088	3,403	1,314	7
Puttalam	LK.PX	62	CE19	PX	61	62	762,396	2,976	1,149	6
Ratnapura	LK.RN	91	CE20	RN	70	91	1,088,007	3,237	1,250	9
Trincomalee	LK.TC	53	CE21	TC	31	53	379,541	2,616	1,010	5
Vavuniya	LK.VA	44	CE28	VA	43	43	172,115	2,642	1,020	4
25 districts							20,359,439	64,395	24,862
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision code. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4 (superseded). Pab: Abbreviations used by the Sri Lanka Post Office. Pc: Sri Lanka uses five-digit postal codes. The first two digits usually indicate the district, as shown here, although there are some deviations. CC: Census code. Population: 2012-03-20 census (source [12]). Prov: ISO code of province containing this district. Capitals: All district capitals have the same names as their districts.

 

Note: Because of civil strife, the 2001 census enumeration was incomplete or absent in seven districts. The populations for those districts were left blank in this table.

Further subdivisions:

See the Divisions of Sri Lanka page.

Subordinate to the districts, there are the pradeshiya mandalaya (divisional council) and gramodaya mandalaya (village council). Since the late 19th century, both palata (provinces) and districts have coexisted, with each province being a group of districts. The provinces had no administrative function until 1988. The Northern and Eastern provinces have been provisionally merged into a North Eastern province, intended to placate Tamil demands for greater self-rule. The merger will become permanent after a referendum which has been repeatedly postponed. Some lists now show eight provinces, and some nine.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Sri Lanka, the draft standard showed both provinces and districts. Each province or district had a two-digit code. Three codes were duplicated: a province had the same code as a district. In the final standard, the two-digit province codes were replaced with one-digit codes. Obviously, this did away with any duplications. The draft standard showed North Eastern province. The final standard replaced it with separate Northern and Eastern provinces. The standard is now set up so that you can tell which province each district is in by their codes. The first digit of a district code is the same as the code for the province in which it belongs.

Update 1 to the U.S. standard "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" showed the splitting of North Eastern province (former FIPS code CE31) into Eastern and Northern.

The provinces and their codes are shown in this table.

Province	ISO	FIPS	Area(km.²)	Capital	Sinhalese name
Central	2	CE29	5,584	Kandy	Madhyama
Eastern	5	CE37	9,951	Trincomali	Negenahira
North Central	7	CE30	10,724	Anuradhapura	Uturumeda
Northern	4	CE38	8,882	Jaffna	Uturu
North Western	6	CE32	7,812	Puttalam	Wayamba
Sabaragamuwa	9	CE33	4,902	Ratnapura	Sabaragamuwa
Southern	3	CE34	5,559	Galle	Dakunu
Uva	8	CE35	8,488	Badulla	Uva
Western	1	CE36	3,709	Colombo	Basnahira
ISO: Province codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "LK-" to the code (ex: LK-8 represents Uva). FIPS: Recent FIPS lists show eight provinces; CE31 represents North Eastern.

Territorial extent: 

All districts are situated mostly on the island of Sri Lanka.

1. Jaffna is located on the Jaffna peninsula, which is nearly separated from the rest of Sri Lanka. It also contains some islands in Palk Strait, such as Delft, Velanai, Karaitivu, and Punkudutivu.
2. Mannar includes Mannar Island, part of the chain of islands and peninsulas called Adam's Bridge.

The UN LOCODE page  for Sri Lanka lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

Colombo: possibly Sinhala kolamba: port, ferry; assimilated to Columbus's name by Portuguese colonists

Change history: 

1. ~1958: Chilaw district merged with Puttalam district, both in North-Western province; Amparai district split from Batticaloa; Moneragala district split from Badulla; Polonnaruwa district split from Anuradhapura.
2. 1974-06-28: Kachchativu island transferred from India to Sri Lanka.
3. 1978-08-31: New constitution adopted. Gampaha district split from Colombo. Mullaitivu district formed from parts of Jaffna, Mannar, and Vavuniya.
4. 1982: Some governmental functions moved from Colombo to Sri Jayawardenapura (formerly Kotte).
5. 1983-10-04: Kilinochchi district split from Jaffna by the seventh amendment to the constitution.
6. 1987-11-14: Thirteenth amendment to the constitution passed, authorizing the establishment of provincial councils to govern the nine provinces.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. districts:
2. Ampara: Amparai (variant)
3. Batticaloa: Matakalapuva (Sinhala)
4. Jaffna: Yapanaya (Sinhala)
5. Kandy: Maha Nuwara (variant)
6. Kegalle: Kegalla (variant)
7. Mannar: Mannarama (Sinhala)
8. Moneragala: Monaragala (variant)
9. Mullaitivu: Mulativ (Sinhala); Mulativu, Mullaittivu (variant)
10. Nuwara Eliya: Nuvara Eliya (variant)
11. Trincomalee: Trikunamalaya (Sinhala)
12. Vavuniya: Vavuniyava (Sinhala)
13. provinces:
14. Central: Madhyama (Sinhala)
15. Eastern: Nægenahira (Sinhala)
16. North Central: Uturumæda (Sinhala)
17. North Western: Vayamba, Wayamba (Sinhala)
18. Northern: Uturu (Sinhala)
19. Sabaragamuwa: Sabaragamuva (Sinhala)
20. Southern: Dakunu (Sinhala)
21. Western: Basnahira (Sinhala)

Population history:

Province	1901-03-01	1911-03-10	1921-03-18	1931-02-26	1946-03-19	1953-03-20	1963-07-08	1971-10-09	1981-03-17	1996	2012-03-20
Central	622,800	672,300	717,739	953,395	1,135,290	1,366,685	1,698,000	1,953,044	2,005,956	2,311,000	2,556,774
Eastern	173,600	183,700	192,821	213,980	279,112	354,410	547,000	717,571	976,475	1,310,000	1,547,377
North Central	79,100	86,300	96,525	97,365	139,534	229,282	394,000	552,423	850,575	1,110,000	1,259,421
Northern	341,000	369,600	374,829	399,094	479,572	570,650	742,000	874,626	1,111,468	1,383,000	1,060,023
North Western	353,600	434,100	492,181	546,988	667,889	855,228	1,156,000	1,404,063	1,706,099	2,148,000	2,372,185
Sabaragamuwa	321,800	408,500	471,814	578,368	745,382	893,160	1,125,000	1,316,096	1,478,879	1,765,000	1,919,478
Southern	566,800	628,800	671,234	771,283	961,418	1,129,308	1,430,000	1,661,870	1,882,912	2,366,000	2,465,626
Uva	186,700	216,700	233,864	303,419	372,238	466,896	654,000	808,425	922,636	1,128,000	1,259,419
Western	920,700	1,106,300	1,246,847	1,448,648	1,876,904	2,232,276	2,838,000	3,401,779	3,915,001	4,687,000	5,837,294
Totals	3,565,954	4,106,350	4,497,854	5,312,548	6,657,339	8,097,895	10,582,064	12,689,897	14,850,001	18,208,000	20,277,597

 

All figures are from censuses except 1996. Totals for 1901, 1911, 1953, 1963, and 2012, and provincial populations for 2012 are from source [6]. Provincial populations for 1901 and 1911 are from source [1]; 1963, from source [10]. All 1931 data are from source [8]; 1953, source [9]; 1971, source [7]; 1983, source [11].

District	1971-10-09	1981-03-17	2001-07-17	2012-03-20
Ampara	272,605	388,786	589,344	649,402
Anuradhapura	388,770	587,822	746,466	860,575
Badulla	615,405	642,893	774,555	815,405
Batticaloa	256,721	330,899		526,567
Colombo	2,672,265	1,698,322	2,234,289	2,324,349
Galle	735,173	814,579	990,539	1,063,334
Gampaha		1,389,490	2,066,096	2,304,833
Hambantota	340,254	424,102	525,370	599,903
Jaffna	701,603	739,356		583,882
Kalutara	729,514	827,189	1,060,800	1,221,948
Kandy	1,187,925	1,126,296	1,272,463	1,375,382
Kegalle	654,752	682,411	779,774	840,648
Kilinochchi		91,756		113,510
Kurunegala	1,025,633	1,212,755	1,452,369	1,618,465
Mannar	77,780	106,940		99,570
Matale	314,841	357,441	442,427	484,531
Matara	586,443	644,231	761,236	814,048
Moneragala	193,020	279,743	396,173	451,058
Mullaitivu		77,512		92,238
Nuwara Eliya	450,278	522,219	700,083	711,644
Polonnaruwa	163,653	262,753	359,197	406,088
Puttalam	378,430	493,344	705,342	762,396
Ratnapura	661,344	796,468	1,008,164	1,088,007
Trincomalee	188,245	256,790		379,541
Vavuniya	95,243	95,904		172,115
Total	12,689,897	14,850,001	18,797,257	20,359,439

 

1971: source [7]; 2001: source [4]; 2012: source [6]. Some districts were not enumerated in 2001 because of civil strife. The country total for that census is an estimate made by the Department of Census and Statistics.

Sources: 

1. [1] Statistical Abstract of Ceylon. Department of Census and Statistics. Colombo, 1965.
2. [2] Dutt, Ashok K., and M. Margaret Geib. Fully Annotated Atlas of South Asia. Westview Press, Boulder and London, 1987.
3. [3] Schmidt, Karl J., and M. E. Sharpe. An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History. Armonk, New York, 1995.
4. [4] Sri Lanka Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), Population by Sex and Age according to District and Sector (Provisional), at http://www.statistics.gov.lk/census2001/population/district/t001a.htm (dead link, retrieved 2004-02-21).
5. [5] Demographic Yearbook , 7th Ed. Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1955 (retrieved 2011-08-20).
6. [6] Population of Sri Lanka by District . Census of Population and Housing 2011: Enumeration Stage February - March 2012, preliminary report (provisional). Department of Census and Statistics, 2012-04-20 (retrieved 2012-07-07).
7. [7] 1979 Demographic Yearbook , 31st Ed. Statistical Office, United Nations, New York, 1980 (retrieved 2011-12-28).
8. [8] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
9. [9] Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1964 edition.
10. [10] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984.
11. [11] Almanaque Abril '85, Editora Abril, São Paulo, 1985.
12. [12] Census of Population and Housing - 2012 . Department of Census and Statistics (retrieved 2015-02-01).