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Anuradhapura — UN urban centre

53,715

Anuradhapura: 53,715 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #11,468 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 991; territory: Sri Lanka (LKA). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: 8.3147, 80.4077. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
202053,047Estimate
202553,715Estimate
203055,009Projection
203556,026Projection
204056,815Projection
204557,355Projection
205057,587Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

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Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.