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Sri Lanka: map, flag, capital and key facts

Sri Lanka is a country in Asia, with about 21.8 million people (2025) and an area of 65,610 square kilometres. It names 2 capitals, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and Colombo, and it has no land borders.

By Team Geography Last reviewed

Flag of Sri Lanka
Flag of Sri Lanka
Map showing where the country sits among its neighbours
Sri Lanka in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.

Key facts about Sri Lanka

CapitalsSri Jayawardenepura Kotte and ColomboSri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital; Colombo is the commercial centre and executive seat.
ContinentAsia
Population21,756,000 2025, World Bank. 62nd of 195.
Area65,610 km² (25,332 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 122nd largest of 195.
Population density332 people per km²
Land neighboursNone. It has no land borders with another country.
Official nameDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
UN statusMember state
Capital coordinates6.90° N, 79.95° E Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Natural Earth.

No land borders

Sri Lanka shares no land border with another country. Its nearest neighbours are across the sea, as the map above shows.

From the Geography app

The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of Sri Lanka's 4, in full.

PLACELens 1 of 4

A teardrop island on the world's busiest shipping lane

Sri Lanka hangs off the southern tip of India like a pendant, separated by the shallow Palk Strait. That places it directly on the east-west shipping route linking the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca, among the most heavily trafficked corridors on Earth. Colombo is a natural transshipment hub; Hambantota, the Chinese-built port on the southern coast, has become the emblem of Beijing's Indian Ocean ambitions. Geography makes neutrality difficult: whoever controls these ports holds leverage over Indian Ocean trade.

More on Hambantota

Built with Chinese loans, the Hambantota port was leased to a Chinese state-owned company for 99 years in 2017 after Sri Lanka struggled to repay the debt. It became a global cautionary example of "debt-trap diplomacy," though the reality is more nuanced: Sri Lanka's debt crisis had multiple causes.

3 more lenses on Sri Lanka in the app

  • STORY A civil war that lasted a generation
  • NOW Sri Lanka is cautiously rebuilding after its most devastating crisis
  • THREAD Sri Lanka is caught between India and China

Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.

Compare Sri Lanka with another country

Opens the country comparison tool with population, area, income and more side by side, every figure dated.

Common questions

What is the capital of Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka names 2 capitals: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and Colombo. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital; Colombo is the commercial centre and executive seat. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte lies at about 6.9 degrees north and 80.0 degrees east. Sri Lanka is in Asia.
What is the population of Sri Lanka?
About 21.8 million people live in Sri Lanka, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 62nd most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 65,610 square kilometres, that is about 332 people per square kilometre.
What countries border Sri Lanka?
None. Sri Lanka has no land borders with any other country. It is surrounded by sea, so every neighbour of Sri Lanka is across the water. It lies in Asia. Its area is 65,610 square kilometres, and about 21.8 million people live there.
How big is Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka covers 65,610 square kilometres, or about 25,332 square miles. That makes it the 122nd largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 21.8 million gives a density of 332 people per square kilometre.

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