Sri Lanka
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
67,655km²
Area
1,766km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
2,524m
Highest point
Pidurutalagala
21,700,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
April
48km
To the mainland
When to go to Sri Lanka
Best for the beach from January to February and from July to August.
The sea is warmest in April (30 °C) and coolest in January (27 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Main island in the nation of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island in Sri Lanka. It covers 67,655 km², with 1,766 km of coastline. Its highest point, Pidurutalagala, rises to 2,524 m. About 21,700,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 48 km away.
Getting there
- Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)main airport (7 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at CMB airport (Colombo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 48 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to February and from July to Augustbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Sri Lanka.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Sri Lanka in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sri Lanka, each with its own numbers.
27beaches and covesCoastya
195lakesLakeyas
30waterfallsCascadyas
Tallest waterfall
189m
Kurundu Oya Waterfall
according to Cascadyas
Largest lake
63.8km²
Senanayake Samudraya
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
32.6°C
Kunukala Kalapuwa
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
30.2°C
Wannakanveli
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
27 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Mt Lavinia Beach29.8°C
- Marakkalagoda29.4°C
- Wewakanda29.4°C
- Pasarchenal29.7°C
- Malala Modera29.4°C
- Sinna Muhattuvaram29.9°C
- Periya Muhattuvaram29.9°C
- Wannakanveli30.2°C
19 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
195 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Senanayake Samudraya63.8km²
- Madura Oya Reservoir48.6km²
- Mundal Lagoon26.6km²
- Parakrama Samudra23.3km²
- Minneriya tank21.6km²
- Iranamadu Tank21.4km²
- Tissa Wewa2.2km²
- Beira Lake0.36km²
187 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
30 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Kurundu Oya Waterfall189m
- Bomburu Ella30m
- Bambarakanda Falls
- Baker's Falls
- Ravana Falls
- Aberdeen Falls
- Devon Falls
- Bopath Ella Falls
22 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 174 m above the sea. 81 % of it is below 200 m.
- 37 %0–50 m
- 44 %50–200 m
- 10 %200–500 m
- 5 %500–1,000 m
- 4 %1,000–2,000 m
- <1 %> 2,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Colombo648,034 people
- Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia219,827 people
- Maharagama195,355 people
- Jaffna169,102 people
- Moratuwa168,280 people
- Negombo137,223 people
- Pita Kotte118,179 people
- Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte115,826 people
- Kandy111,701 people
- Trincomalee108,420 people
- Kalmunai100,171 people
- Galle93,118 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 27 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Rain (mm) | 116 | 89 | 96 | 154 | 133 | 73 | 62 | 70 | 101 | 228 | 279 | 243 |
| Wet days | 11 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 22 | 23 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 6.4 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 13 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +0.3 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | −0.1 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.7 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 | +0.2 | −0.3 | −0.1 | +0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 |
| 2023 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.4 | −0.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
India
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q4526612) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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