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. 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. 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.
Polonnaruwa Municipal Council was created on 30 June 2017, bifurcated from Thamankaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha.
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
ProvinceDistrictMunicipal council Municipality Established/Elevated No. ofCouncillorsMayor Area (km2)2012 Population(2024) WebsiteWestern 1 Colombo 1 Colombo Colombo 1865 117 (2) (List) 37 394,533 2 Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 1959 54 (6) (List) 21 138,460 3 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 1997 39 (1) (List) 17 77,162 4 Kaduwela Kaduwela 2011 47 (1) (List) 87 204,547 5 Moratuwa Moratuwa 1997 52 (4) (List) 23 122,567 2 Gampaha 6 Negombo Negombo 1950 49 (1) (List) 31 117,756 7 Gampaha Gampaha 28 (2) (List) 38 53,775 North Western 3 Kurunegala 8 Kurunegala Kurunegala 1952 22 (1) (List) 11 21,621 Central 4 Kandy 9 Kandy Kandy 1865 46 (5) (List) 27 85,000 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 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 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 Eastern 15 Batticaloa 22 Batticaloa Batticaloa 1967 34 (4) (List) 75 70,124 16 Ampara 23 Kalmunai Kalmunai 2001 41 (List) 23 99,893 24 Akkaraipattu Akkaraipattu 2011 22 (2) (List) 7 27,760
Notes
See also List of cities in Sri Lanka Provincial government in Sri Lanka Local government in Sri Lanka Urban councils of Sri Lanka Pradeshiya Sabha
References
External links Ministry of Local Government & Provincial Councils