Sri Lankan cities and towns, found on the map

Every one on the map

Every place listed below can be asked in this game. Places you find in a passed round drop out of your remaining pool.

What the map tells you about each one

The paragraph the game shows when you find each one. Reading them first is not cheating.

Colombo

Colombo is Sri Lanka’s principal commercial city and a major port. It is distinct from nearby Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, where Parliament meets. Zoom in to separate the two city pins.

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital. Parliament stands in Diyawanna Oya; the city belongs to the wider urban region east of Colombo.

Negombo

Negombo is a coastal city associated with fishing, lagoon landscapes and historic churches. It lies near the international airport at Katunayake, which is a separate settlement.

Kandy

Kandy was the seat of the last kingdom to resist British control. Its sacred city includes the Temple of the Tooth, and it remains an important highland centre.

Matale

Matale is a district centre north of Kandy. Its surrounding countryside is associated with spices and agricultural production, while Dambulla lies farther north in the same district.

Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya is a high-elevation town surrounded by tea estates and vegetable-growing country. Its cooler setting contrasts with the coastal plains.

Galle

Galle grew as an Indian Ocean trading port. Its fortified old town is a UNESCO World Heritage property and is separate from the city’s wider modern urban area.

Matara

Matara stands near the mouth of the Nilwala River. It is an important southern city, distinct from Matale in the central interior despite their similar English names.

Hambantota

Hambantota is a southern coastal district centre associated with salt production, fishing and a large modern port. The city and port facilities occupy different parts of the coast.

Jaffna

Jaffna is a major centre of Tamil language, education and cultural life. Its urban history is connected with a wider peninsula of villages, islands, lagoons and palmyra landscapes.

Mannar

Mannar town lies on an island linked to the mainland by a causeway. Farther west, a chain of shoals known as Adam’s Bridge extends towards India; it is not a public land crossing.

Vavuniya

Vavuniya is an inland transport and service centre in the Northern Province. It lies on the principal road and rail corridor connecting the north with the rest of the island.

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city with a deep natural harbour. Koneswaram Temple stands on a headland, while the Mahaweli reaches the sea in the wider bay area to the south.

Batticaloa

Batticaloa is an eastern coastal city with a lagoon landscape and important Tamil and Muslim cultural connections. Bridges link parts of the urban area across waterways.

Ampara

Ampara is a district centre inland from the southeastern coast. Irrigation and settlement projects in the Gal Oya basin shaped the area around the town.

Kurunegala

Kurunegala is the capital of North Western Province and a major road junction. Rocky outcrops rise around the city, which also served as a medieval royal centre.

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura combines a modern provincial centre with an extensive ancient sacred city. Large stupas, monasteries and reservoirs record its long history as a capital.

Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa is associated with a medieval capital and major irrigation works. The archaeological city and modern settlements sit near the Parakrama Samudra reservoir.

Badulla

Badulla is the capital of Uva Province. It is an important market and administrative town and the eastern terminus of the railway through the central highlands.

Ratnapura

Ratnapura is the capital of Sabaragamuwa Province and a centre of the gem trade. Its wet-zone setting lies below the mountains leading towards Sri Pada.

How this one works

The other maps of Sri Lanka

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All three together on the Sri Lanka atlas page, the country itself on the Sri Lanka guide, and the other two hundred on the world map.