Sri Lanka Genealogy

Sri Lanka Wiki Topics

Sri Lanka Beginning Research

Getting Started Record Finder Research Strategies Finding Town of Origin

Record Types

Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Compiled Genealogies Emigration & Immigration Land & Property Military Records Online Genealogy Records Religious Records Schools & Education

Sri Lanka Background

For Further Reading History Languages Maps Naming Customs Periodicals Social Life & Customs

Local Research Resources

Archives & Libraries Societies Local FamilySearch Center

In other languages: සිංහල | தமிழ்

Asia

Sri Lanka

Guide to Sri Lanka ancestry, family history and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Information

Sri Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Asia whose nearest neighbor is India. It was formerly ruled by Portugal, The Netherlands, and Great Britain. The official languages are Sinhalese and Tamil.

Sri Lanka Online Genealogy Records

Online
Research Help

Getting
Started

Sri Lanka Map

Genealogy records are kept on the local level in Sri Lanka. For more detail, see the U.N. map.

Bay of Bengal

Palk Strait

Northern Province

Gulf of
Mannar

North Central Province

North Western
Province

Eastern
Province

Central
Province

Uva Province

Western
Province

Sabaragamuwa
Province

Southern Province

Indian Ocean

Provinces

Genealogy records are kept on the local level in Sri Lanka. Click on a place below to go to the corresponding Wiki article listing more information.

Sri Lanka is divided into eight provinces.

Central North Central Northern Eastern North Western

Sabaragamuwa Southern Uva Western

Note: In October 2006, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court rule voided a presidential directive merging the North and Eastern Provinces. Many have defended the merger as a prerequisite for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict. A parliamentary decision on the issue is pending.