Subdivisions of Sri Lanka: 9 provinces and 25 districts in Sinhala
Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces (පළාත්, paḷāt, in Sinhala) and 25 districts, all coded in ISO 3166-2. This list gives each province and district in Sinhala and Tamil script with a romanisation, the seat of every province and the districts grouped under their province.
- Provinces
- 9
- Groups
- 1
Updated
The 9 provinces of Sri Lanka in Sinhala and Tamil
The nine provinces as ISO 3166-2:LK lists them, numbered LK-1 to LK-9, with the Sinhala and Tamil names, the seat of each provincial council in both languages and the number of districts.
- sin Sinhala, with ISO 15919 romanisation and the English name
- tam Tamil, with the romanisation ISO cites
Provinces 9
| Sinhala | Tamil | Seat | Seat in Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
බස්නාහිර පළාතBasnāhira paḷāta · Western Province
|
மேல் மாகாணம்Mēl mākāṇam
|
කොළඹColombo
|
கொழும்புKoḻumpu
|
LK-13 districts
|
මධ්යම පළාතMadhyama paḷāta · Central Province
|
மத்திய மாகாணம்Mattiya mākāṇam
|
මහනුවරKandy
|
கண்டிKaṇṭi
|
LK-23 districts
|
දකුණු පළාතDakuṇu paḷāta · Southern Province
|
தென் மாகாணம்Teṉ mākāṇam
|
ගාල්ලGalle
|
காலிKāli
|
LK-33 districts
|
උතුරු පළාතUturu paḷāta · Northern Province
|
வட மாகாணம்Vaṭa mākāṇam
|
යාපනයJaffna
|
யாழ்ப்பாணம்Yāḻppāṇam
|
LK-45 districts
|
නැගෙනහිර පළාතNæ̆gĕnahira paḷāta · Eastern Province
|
கிழக்கு மாகாணம்Kiḻakku mākāṇam
|
ත්රිකුණාමලයTrincomalee
|
திருகோணமலைTirukōṇamalai
|
LK-53 districts
|
වයඹ පළාතVayamba paḷāta · North Western Province
|
வடமேல் மாகாணம்Vaṭamēl mākāṇam
|
කුරුණෑගලKurunegala
|
குருநாகல்Kurunākal
|
LK-62 districts
|
උතුරු මැද පළාතUturumæ̆da paḷāta · North Central Province
|
வடமத்திய மாகாணம்Vaṭamattiya mākāṇam
|
අනුරාධපුරයAnuradhapura
|
அனுராதபுரம்Aṉurātapuram
|
LK-72 districts
|
ඌව පළාතŪva paḷāta · Uva Province
|
ஊவா மாகாணம்Ūvā mākāṇam
|
බදුල්ලBadulla
|
பதுளைPatuḷai
|
LK-82 districts
|
සබරගමුව පළාතSabaragamuva paḷāta · Sabaragamuwa Province
|
சப்ரகமுவ மாகாணம்Caprakamuva mākāṇam
|
රත්නපුරRatnapura
|
இரத்தினபுரிIrattiṉapuri
|
LK-92 districts
|
Two languages, one district: Mahanuvara and Kaṇṭi
Sinhala and Tamil name most districts after the same town, each in its own form: Galle is ගාල්ල (Gālla) in Sinhala and காலி (Kāli) in Tamil, Badulla is බදුල්ල and பதுளை (Patuḷai), Hambantota හම්බන්තොට and அம்பாந்தோட்டை (Ampāntōṭṭai). In a few districts the two names are different words. Kandy is මහනුවර, Mahanuvara, in Sinhala but கண்டி, Kaṇṭi, in Tamil; Batticaloa is මඩකලපුව in Sinhala and மட்டக்களப்பு, Maṭṭakkaḷappu, in Tamil; Jaffna is යාපනය, Yāpanaya, and யாழ்ப்பாணம், Yāḻppāṇam.
In English, Kandy and Jaffna sound closer to the Tamil forms, Colombo to the Sinhala කොළඹ, Koḷamba, and Trincomalee to the Tamil திருக்கோணமலை.
The district numbers carry the province. ISO gives each district a two-digit code whose first digit is its province: Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara are LK-11, LK-12 and LK-13 in the Western Province, LK-1; Ratnapura and Kegalla are LK-91 and LK-92 in Sabaragamuwa, LK-9.
The 25 districts of Sri Lanka (distrikka, māvaṭṭaṅkaḷ) by province
Every district in Sinhala and Tamil with its ISO 3166-2 code. The first digit of the code is the number of the province, so LK-41 to LK-45 are the five districts of the Northern Province.
- sin Sinhala, with ISO 15919 romanisation and the English name
- tam Tamil, with the romanisation ISO cites
Western Province 3
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
කොළඹKŏḷamba · Colombo
|
கொழும்புKŏl̮umpu
|
LK-11
|
ගම්පහGampaha · Gampaha
|
கம்பஹாKampahā
|
LK-12
|
කළුතරKalutara · Kalutara
|
களுத்துறைKaḷuttuṟai
|
LK-13
|
Central Province 3
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
මහනුවරMahanuvara · Kandy
|
கண்டிKaṇṭi
|
LK-21
|
මාතලේMātale · Matale
|
மாத்தளைMāttaḷai
|
LK-22
|
නුවරඑළියNuvara Ĕliya · Nuwara Eliya
|
நுவரெலியாNuvarĕliyā
|
LK-23
|
Southern Province 3
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
ගාල්ලGālla · Galle
|
காலிKāli
|
LK-31
|
මාතරMātara · Matara
|
மாத்தறைMāttaṛai
|
LK-32
|
හම්බන්තොටHambantŏṭa · Hambantota
|
அம்பாந்தோட்டைAmpāntōṭṭai
|
LK-33
|
Northern Province 5
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
යාපනයYāpanaya · Jaffna
|
யாழ்ப்பாணம்Yāl̮ppāṇam
|
LK-41
|
කිලිනොච්චිKilinŏchchi · Kilinochchi
|
கிளிநொச்சிKiḷinochchi
|
LK-42
|
මන්නාරමMannārama · Mannar
|
மன்னார்Maṉṉār
|
LK-43
|
වවුනියාVavuniyāva · Vavuniya
|
வவுனியாVavuṉiyā
|
LK-44
|
මුලතිවුMulativ · Mullaittivu
|
முல்லைத்தீவுMullaittīvu
|
LK-45
|
Eastern Province 3
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
මඩකලපුවMaḍakalapuva · Batticaloa
|
மட்டக்களப்புMaṭṭakkaḷappu
|
LK-51
|
අම්පාරAmpāra · Ampara
|
அம்பாறைAmpāṟai
|
LK-52
|
ත්රිකුණාමළයTrikuṇāmalaya · Trincomalee
|
திருக்கோணமலைTirukŏṇamalai
|
LK-53
|
North Western Province 2
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
කුරුණෑගලKuruṇægala · Kurunegala
|
குருநாகல்Kurunākal
|
LK-61
|
පුත්තලමPuttalama · Puttalam
|
புத்தளம்Puttaḷam
|
LK-62
|
North Central Province 2
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
අනුරාධපුරAnurādhapura · Anuradhapura
|
அனுராதபுரம்Anurātapuram
|
LK-71
|
පොළොන්නරුවPŏḷŏnnaruva · Polonnaruwa
|
பொலன்னறுவைPŏlaṉṉaṛuvai
|
LK-72
|
Uva Province 2
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
බදුල්ලBadulla · Badulla
|
பதுளைPatuḷai
|
LK-81
|
මොණරාගලMŏṇarāgala · Monaragala
|
மொணராகலைMŏṉarākalai
|
LK-82
|
Sabaragamuwa Province 2
| Sinhala | Tamil | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|
රත්නපුරRatnapura · Ratnapura
|
இரத்தினபுரம்Irattiṉapuri
|
LK-91
|
කෑගල්ලKægalla · Kegalla
|
கேகாலைKekālai
|
LK-92
|
Provinces: the same list as the Sri Lanka country page, after ISO 3166-2:LK. Districts, their Sinhala and Tamil names and romanisations: ISO 3166-2:LK on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:LK, checked 28 October 2026. Tamil seats of the provinces: the list before 2018.
Spellings, codes and the 2007 split
Two Tamil spellings in the table differ from older lists. ISO writes Ratnapura as இரத்தினபுரம் where the provincial seat column keeps இரத்தினபுரி, and writes Trincomalee திருக்கோணமலை with a doubled k. The codes have kept their form since 2010, when ISO added the LK- prefix and the names in Sinhala and Tamil; in 2019 it corrected the province assigned to 22 of the 25 districts.
The Northern and Eastern provinces were merged as the North-Eastern Province from 1988 until the Supreme Court ruled the merger invalid; they have been separate again since 1 January 2007. Their eight districts, from Jaffna to Ampara, appear here under the two provinces of today.
Questions about the provinces and districts of Sri Lanka
How many districts does Sri Lanka have?
25, coded LK-11 Colombo to LK-92 Kegalla in ISO 3166-2. The Northern Province has the most, five.
What is Kandy called in Sinhala?
මහනුවර, Mahanuvara. The Tamil name is கண்டி, Kaṇṭi.
What does the first digit of a district code mean?
It is the number of the province: LK-5x districts belong to the Eastern Province, LK-5, and LK-7x districts to the North Central Province, LK-7.