---
title: "Sri Lanka — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "Sri Lanka: capital Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative); Colombo (commercial), area 65,610 km², population 21,756,000 (2025), currency Sri Lankan rupee. Languages"
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/sri-lanka/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Sri Lanka

**Sri Lanka: Capital Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative); Colombo (commercial)**

65,610 km² · 21,756,000 people (2025) · Sri Lankan rupee

A teardrop island off southern India with a central massif rising to 2,524 m. Ancient reservoirs called tanks, some of them 2,000 years old, still irrigate the dry zone. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of biological endemism in the world for its size, and Sinharaja is the last large stand of its lowland rainforest.

## The facts

- **Capital:** Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative); Colombo (commercial)
- **Largest city:** Colombo
- **Area:** 65,610 km² — 25,332 sq mi
- **Population:** 21,756,000 (2025)
- **Density:** 331.6 people per km²
- **Currency:** Sri Lankan rupee (LKR, Rs රු)
- **Official languages:** Sinhala, Tamil
- **Time zone:** UTC+05:30
- **Calling code:** +94
- **Drives on the:** left
- **ISO codes:** LK · LKA
- **Continent:** Asia

## How it compares

- **By area:** 121 of 200
- **By population:** 63 of 200

> Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

## Countries of a similar size

| Country | Area (km²) | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ireland | 70,273 | 5,484,367 |
| Georgia | 69,700 | 3,935,766 |
| Sri Lanka ← | 65,610 | 21,756,000 |
| Lithuania | 65,300 | 2,888,774 |
| Latvia | 64,589 | 1,847,785 |

## Common questions

### What is the capital of Sri Lanka?

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative); Colombo (commercial)

### What currency does Sri Lanka use?

The Sri Lankan rupee (LKR).

### How big is Sri Lanka?

65,610 km², or 25,332 square miles — 121 of 200 by area.

### Which side of the road does Sri Lanka drive on?

The left.

## Related pages

- [Ireland](https://atoneplace.net/country/ireland/)
- [Georgia](https://atoneplace.net/country/georgia/)
- [Lithuania](https://atoneplace.net/country/lithuania/)
- [Latvia](https://atoneplace.net/country/latvia/)
- [India](https://atoneplace.net/country/india/)
- [China](https://atoneplace.net/country/china/)
- [Indonesia](https://atoneplace.net/country/indonesia/)
- [Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/country/pakistan/)
- [Bangladesh](https://atoneplace.net/country/bangladesh/)
- [Japan](https://atoneplace.net/country/japan/)
- [Philippines](https://atoneplace.net/country/philippines/)
- [Vietnam](https://atoneplace.net/country/vietnam/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]