Administrative divisions

Bay of Bengal

Palk Strait

Northern Province

Gulf of
Mannar

North Central Province

North Western
Province

Eastern
Province

Central
Province

Uva Province

Western
Province

Sabaragamuwa
Province

Southern Province

Indian Ocean

Main articles: Provinces of Sri Lanka, Districts of Sri Lanka, Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka, and List of cities in Sri Lanka

Provinces

The Provinces of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: පළාතTamil: மாகாணம்) have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils following several decades of increasing demand for a decentralization of the Government of Sri Lanka.^[32] Between 1988 and 2006 the Northern and Eastern provinces were temporarily merged to form the North-East Province. Prior to 1987, all administration was handled by a district-based civil service which had been in place since colonial times.
Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces^[33] and 25 districts.^[34] Each province is administered by a directly elected provincial council:

Administrative Divisions of Sri Lanka
province	Capital	Area (km²)	Population
Central	Kandy	5,674	2,423,966
Eastern	Trincomalee	9,996	1,460,939
North Central	Anuradhapura	10,714	1,104,664
Northern	Jaffna	8,884	1,311,776
North Western	Kurunegala	7,812	2,169,892
Sabaragamuwa	Ratnapura	4,902	1,801,331
Southern	Galle	5,559	2,278,271
Uva	Badulla	8,488	1,177,358
Western	Colombo	3,709	5,361,200

Districts

The provinces of Sri Lanka are divided into 25 districts (Sinhala: දිස්ත්‍රි‌ක්‌ක sing. දිස්ත්‍රික්කයTamil: மாவட்டம்). Each district is administered under a District Secretariat. The districts are further subdivided into divisional secretariats, and these in turn to Grama Sevaka divisions.
The Districts are known in Sinhala as Disa and in Tamil as Maawaddam. Originally a Disa (usually rendered into English as Dissavony) was a duchy, notably Matale and Uva. The Government Agent, who is know as District Secretary administers a district.
These were originally based on the feudal counties, the korales and ratas. They were formerly known as 'D.R.O. Divisions' after the 'Divisional Revenue Officer'. Later the D.R.O.s became 'Assistant Government Agents' and the Divisions were known as 'A.G.A. Divisions'. Currently, the Divisions are administered by a 'Divisional Secretary', and are known as a 'D.S. Divisions'. Rural D.S. Divisions are also administered by a 'Pradeshiya Sabha' and 'Pradesha Sabhai' (Sinhala and Tamil for 'Regional Council'), which is elected.

Cities

Cities by population

Colombo Kandy Trincomalee	Rank	City	Province	Population	Rank	City	Province	Population	view • talk • edit Kotte Jaffna Galle
	1	Colombo	Western	682 046	11	Galle	Southern	97 209
	2	Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia	Western	232 220	12	Batticaloa	Eastern	95 489
	3	Moratuwa	Western	202 021	13	Katunayake	Western	90 231
	4	Negambo	Western	142 451	14	Battaramulla	Western	84 200
	5	Trincomalee	Eastern	131 954	15	Dambulla	Central	75 290
	6	Kotte	Western	125 914	16	Dalugama	Western	74 129
	7	Kandy	Central	119 186	17	Maharagama	Western	74 117
	8	Kalmunai	Eastern	103 879	18	Kotikawatta	Western	71 879
	9	Vavuniya	Northern	101 143	19	Chavakachcheri	Northern	70 273
	10	Jaffna	Northern	98 193	20	Anuradhapura	North Central	66 951
	2009 estimation[35]