Electoral Districts
According to the Sri Lankan Constitution, members of Parliament are elected from 22 multi-member districts via the process of proportional representation electoral system.
The Sri Lankan Constitution states, the Parliament should comprise 225 members or seats. Under a certain section, 36 seats were allocated to nine provinces in the country and it was mentioned that a delimitation commission would allocate four seats between electoral districts in each province.
Electoral Districts in Sri Lanka History
In Sri Lanka, the Delimitation Commission was appointed on 29th November 1978. The nation was eventually divided into 22 electoral districts. Out of the 22 districts, 21 were coterminous with their namesake administrative district. The other electoral district Vanni, comprises the administrative districts of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya.
Number of Electoral Districts in Sri Lanka
The 36 provincial seats include
Central Province – Kandy 1, Matale 1, Nuwara Eliya 2.
Eastern Province – Ampara 2, Batticaloa 1, Trincomalee 1.
Northern Province – Jaffna 1, Vanni 3.
North Central Province – Anuradhapura 2, Polonnaruwa 2.0
North Western Province – Kurunegala 2, Puttalam 2.
Sabaragamuwa Province – Kegalla 2, Ratnapura 2.
Southern Province – Galle 1, Matara 1, Hambantota 2.Uva Province – Badulla 2, Monaragala 2.
Western Province – Colombo 2, Gampaha 1, Kalutara 1.
Kilinochchi Administrative District was carved out from southern Jaffna Administrative District in February 1984. Now, Jaffna Electoral District consists of two administrative districts, namely – Jaffna and Kilinochchi.
Number of seats per electoral district |
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| Electoral District | Province | Polling Divisions | Population (2012) | Registered Electors (2011) | Sect. 98 Seats (2011) | Sect. 96 Seats (1979) | Total Seats (2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ampara | Eastern | 4 | 645803 | 441287 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Anuradhapura | North Central | 7 | 855373 | 606508 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Badulla | Uva | 9 | 811138 | 591292 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Batticaloa | Eastern | 3 | 525166 | 347099 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Colombo | Western | 15 | 2322942 | 1512670 | 17 | 2 | 19 |
| Galle | Southern | 10 | 1058902 | 790207 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Gampaha | Western | 13 | 2298190 | 1538368 | 17 | 1 | 18 |
| Hambantota | Southern | 4 | 595802 | 442060 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Jaffna | Northern | 11 | 695867 | 482342 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Kalutara | Western | 8 | 1214720 | 853609 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Kandy | Central | 13 | 1367900 | 1002493 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| Kegalle | Sabaragamuwa | 9 | 837100 | 631981 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Kurunegala | North Western | 14 | 1611230 | 1216286 | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| Matale | Central | 4 | 482294 | 359796 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Matara | Southern | 7 | 810629 | 595867 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Monaragala | Uva | 3 | 448080 | 319557 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Nuwara Eliya | Central | 4 | 706156 | 488133 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Polonnaruwa | North Central | 3 | 403827 | 294365 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Puttalam | North Western | 5 | 760651 | 517557 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Ratnapura | Sabaragamuwa | 8 | 1082051 | 769814 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Trincomalee | Eastern | 3 | 376337 | 245363 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Vanni | Northern | 3 | 364021 | 221409 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| National List | 29 | ||||||
| Total | 160 | 20274179 | 14268063 | 160 | 36 | 225 | |