asia • LKA
Sri Lanka
Location marker · geographic overview
7° N / 81° ETHE WORLD, ONE COUNTRY AT A TIME
- Capital
- Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
- Population
- 21,916,000 2024
- Area
- 65,610 km² (year unavailable)
- Languages source-listed
- Sinhala, Tamil
- Currency
- Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
- Geography
- Island country
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Sources & limitations.
STAY A LITTLE LONGER
Discover Sri Lanka
FROM THE TRAVEL GUIDE · Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා Śrī Laṃkā; Tamil: இலங்கை Ilaṅkai), formerly known as Ceylon, is an island in the Indian Ocean, just south of India. It is known for its natural beauty, with stunning beaches all along its coastline, great wildlife and biodiversity, tea plantations, orchards, temples, monuments, and a cultural heritage dating back several millennia.
Food & everyday culture
Sri Lanka and South Indian food share a lot in common, and many local restaurants describe their menus as Sri Lankan & South Indian. There are several uniquely Sri Lankan dishes, though, such as the different types of hopper, devilled meat and/or fish, cuttlefish, etc., and the common fiery addition to any curry, pol sambol made of grated coconut, red chilli powder and lime juice.Read the eat section ↗
Excerpts from Wikivoyage contributors, revision 2026-09-25. CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected excerpts; wiki formatting removed; omissions marked […]. Guide wording and any figures belong to this dated source; they do not replace the atlas statistics above. Food descriptions are not official national-dish designations.
A little more to discover +
- National flower
- Not yet verified
- Official national dish
- Not yet verified
- Representative food
- Not yet verified
- Subregion
- Southern Asia
- Calling code
- +94
- Internet domain
- .lk, .இலங்கை, .ලංකා
- Land border codes
- None listed
Quick facts
- Traffic keeps to the left side of the road. Source ↗
- The country-code web domain is .lk or .இலங்கை or .ලංකා. Source ↗
- The source lists monday as the start of the week. Source ↗
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Source-matched September 26, 2026; not live data. Sources & limitations.