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 2017 municipal councils collectively governed 2,765,533 people within a 698 square kilometer area. There were 445 Councillors in total, ranging from 53 to 9 per council.[3] [4]
The last council to be created was Polonnaruwa Municipal Council on 30 June 2017, bifurcated from Thamankaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha.[5]
| Province | District | Municipal council | Municipality | Established/ Elevated | No. of Councillors | Mayor | Area (km2) [6] | Population (2012)[7] | Website | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1865 | 119 | !align="center" style="background-color: " color:white;" | (List) | 37 | 561,314 | ||||||
| 2 | 1959 | 48 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 21 | 184,468 | |||||||
| 3 | 1997 | 38 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 17 | 107,925 | |||||||
| 4 | 2011 | 48 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 87 | 252,041 | |||||||
| 5 | 1997 | 48 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 23 | 168,280 | |||||||
| 2 | 6 | 1950 | 48 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 31 | 142,449 | ||||||
| 7 | 30 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 38 | 62,335 | ||||||||
| 3 | 8 | 1952 | 21 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 11 | 30,315 | ||||||
| 4 | 9 | 1865 | 41 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 27 | 98,828 | ||||||
| 5 | 10 | 1947 | 21 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 26 | 38,229 | ||||||
| 11 | 2011 | 23 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 58 | 24,967 | |||||||
| 6 | 12 | 1949 | 23 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 12 | 23,804 | ||||||
| 7 | 13 | 25 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 10 | 42,237 | |||||||
| 14 | 2011 | 17 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 27 | 24,168[8] | |||||||
| 8 | 15 | 35 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 17 | 86,333 | |||||||
| 9 | 16 | 30 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 13 | 74,193 | |||||||
| 10 | 17 | 2011 | 21 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 83 | 23,236 | ||||||
| 11 | 18 | 25 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 20 | 47,105 | |||||||
| 12 | 19 | 29 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 36 | 50,595 | |||||||
| 13 | 20 | 2017 | 11 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | ||||||||
| 14 | 21 | 1949 | 45 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 20 | 80,829 | ||||||
| 15 | 22 | 1967 | 38 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 75 | 86,227 | ||||||
| 16 | 23 | 2001 | 41 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 23 | 99,893 | ||||||
| 24 | 2011 | 20 | !align="center" style="background:; color:white;" | (List) | 7 | 30,934 | |||||||