Municipal councils of Sri Lanka

Last updated

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]

Contents

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 councilMunicipalityEstablished/
Elevated
No. of
Councillors
MayorArea (km2)
[N 1] [3]
Population
(2024) [7]
Website
Western 1 Colombo 1 Colombo Colombo 1865117 (Increase2.svg2)(List)37394,533 cmc.lk
2 Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 195954 (Increase2.svg6)(List)21138,460 dmmc.lk
3 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 199739 (Increase2.svg1)(List)1777,162 kotte.mc.gov.lk
4 Kaduwela Kaduwela 201147 (Decrease2.svg1)(List)87204,547 kaduwela.mc.gov.lk
5 Moratuwa Moratuwa 199752 (Increase2.svg4)(List)23122,567 moratuwa.mc.gov.lk
2 Gampaha 6 Negombo Negombo 195049 (Increase2.svg1)(List)31117,756 negombo.mc.gov.lk
7 Gampaha Gampaha 28 (Decrease2.svg2)(List)3853,775 gampaha.mc.gov.lk
North Western 3 Kurunegala 8 Kurunegala Kurunegala 195222 (Increase2.svg1)(List)1121,621 kurunegala.mc.gov.lk
Central 4 Kandy 9 Kandy Kandy 186546 (Increase2.svg5)(List)2785,000 www.kandymc.org
5 Matale 10 Matale Matale 194722 (Increase2.svg1)(List)2631,888
11 Dambulla Dambulla 201122 (Decrease2.svg1)(List)5820,267
6 Nuwara Eliya 12 Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya 194925 (Increase2.svg2)(List)1219,274 nuwaraeliya.mc.gov.lk
Uva 7 Badulla 13 Badulla Badulla 27 (Increase2.svg2)(List)1034,842
14 Bandarawela Bandarawela 201116 (Decrease2.svg1)(List)2720,481
Southern 8 Galle 15 Galle Galle 36 (Increase2.svg1)(List)1775,429 galle.mc.gov.lk
9 Matara 16 Matara Matara 30(List)1360,976
10 Hambantota 17 Hambantota Hambantota 201121(List)8318,759
Sabaragamuwa 11 Ratnapura 18 Ratnapura Ratnapura 27 (Increase2.svg2)(List)2039,381
North Central 12 Anuradhapura 19 Anuradhapura Anuradhapura 26 (Decrease2.svg3)(List)3638,188
13 Polonnaruwa 20 Polonnaruwa Polonnaruwa 201716 (Increase2.svg5)(List)30.2927,791 https://mcpolonnaruwa.lk/
Northern 14 Jaffna 21 Jaffna Jaffna 194945(List)2063,045 jaffnamc.lk
Eastern 15 Batticaloa 22 Batticaloa Batticaloa 196734 (Decrease2.svg4)(List)7570,124 www.batticaloa.mc.gov.lk
16 Ampara 23 Kalmunai Kalmunai 200141(List)2399,893
24 Akkaraipattu Akkaraipattu 201122 (Increase2.svg2)(List)727,760
Municipal councils by party
  1. National People's Power (86.95%)
  2. Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (8.69%)
  3. National Congress (4.34%)

Notes

  1. 2012

See also

References

  1. "Compilation of Local Authority" (PDF). Ministry of Local Government & Provincial Councils. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Local government". Ministry of Local Government & Provincial Councils. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 "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.
  4. "Local Government Statistics, 2012" (PDF). statistics.gov.lk/. Department of Census and Statistics. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  5. "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.
  6. "City Of Polonnaruwa To Be Elevated To Municipal Council" . Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  7. "Live Sri Lanka Local Government Election Results 2025 | Real-Time Results". results.elections.gov.lk. Retrieved 25 June 2025.