Asia · Southern Asia
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka covers about 66,300 km² (25,600 mi²), the 124th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to Lithuania, at about 64,900 km².
- 66,300km²Area, main territory
- 21.4 millionPopulation
- 2.16In Belgiums
50 km
- Sri Lanka
Facts
| Area, main territory | 66,300 km²25,600 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 65,600 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| In Belgiums | 2.16 |
| Capital | Colombo; Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte |
| Population | 21.4 millionWikidata, 2017 |
| Density | 323 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 6°N to 10°N |
| In other languages | スリランカ 日本語 · 斯里兰卡 中文 · 스리랑카 한국어 |
| Continent | Asia#35 of 51 countries by area |
What the numbers say about Sri Lanka
- Russia, the largest place listed, is 256× the size of Sri Lanka.
- Sri Lanka ranks 61st of 237 by population but only 123rd of 239 by area: it holds more people than its size suggests.
- At 323 people per km², Sri Lanka is the 19th most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
- Sri Lanka lies at 8°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, Sri Lanka's main territory stretches about 434 km north to south and 245 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 65,600 km² agrees with our measured area of 66,300 km², to within 2%.
How Sri Lanka measures up
Sri Lanka holds 0.2% of the land area and 0.5% of the people of the 51 countries listed for Asia. In Southern Asia it is the 7th largest of 8.
| Where it ranks | Figure | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 66,300 km² | 123rd of 239 |
| Population | 21.4 million | 61st of 237 |
| Density | 323 per km² | 19th of 185 |
| Farthest north | 7.6°N | 150th of 212 |
| Compared with | Its area | Sri Lanka is |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 30,700 km² | 2.16× its size |
| United Kingdom | 244,000 km² | 0.27× its size |
| Germany | 358,000 km² | 0.19× its size |
| Japan | 374,000 km² | 0.18× its size |
| France | 548,000 km² | 0.12× its size |
| India | 3,151,000 km² | 0.02× its size |
| Brazil | 8,473,000 km² | 0.01× its size |
| United States | 9,447,000 km² | 0.01× its size |
| Russia | 16,980,000 km² | 1 in 256 its size |
Where Sri Lanka sits
- Sri Lanka's centre lies at 7.6°N, 80.7°E, in the northern and eastern hemispheres, about 850 km from the equator.
- Its main territory spans 6°N to 10°N, about 430 km from its southern edge to its northern.
Closest neighbours, by distance between centres
On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world
If Sri Lanka had other densities
- At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², Sri Lanka would have 83.0 million people. It has 21.4 million.
- At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², Sri Lanka would have 247,000 people. It has 21.4 million.
- At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 4.8 million.
About the same size as
Largest in Asia
Compare Sri Lanka
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
- Population
- Wikidata, 2017; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
- Data built
- 2026-11-11