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Wildfires in Sri Lanka
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 06:21 UTC
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Regions
- Ampara2 fires
- Anuradhapura3 fires
- Badullano fires now
- Batticaloano fires now
- Gampahano fires now
- Hambantota1 fire
- Jaffna1 fire
- Kalutarano fires now
- Kandyno fires now
- Kegalleno fires now
- Kilinochchino fires now
- Kurunegalano fires now
- Mannarno fires now
- Mataleno fires now
- Matarano fires now
- Monaragalano fires now
- Mullaitivuno fires now
- Nuwara Eliyano fires now
- Polonnaruwa1 fire
- Puttalama1 fire
- Ratnapurano fires now
- Trincomalee1 fire
- Vavuniyano fires now
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-21
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 29,590 km² of Sri Lanka at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 5,820 km², ranking 75th of 200 countries.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2016, with 9,260 km² detected; the quietest was 2021, with 3,470 km². The 2021–2025 average is 41% lower than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
July, August and September together hold 61% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 28 September 2013, with detections in 503 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 29,590 km² with at least one detection, 43% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 10,400 | 35% |
| 2 years | 6,430 | 22% |
| 3 to 5 years | 9,670 | 33% |
| 6 to 10 years | 3,000 | 10% |
| 11 years or more | 78 | 0.3% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 7.25, 81.25 and holds 9.0% of the country's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 8,560 | 9,267 |
| 2013 | 7,260 | 7,858 |
| 2014 | 8,010 | 8,310 |
| 2015 | 3,660 | 3,640 |
| 2016 | 9,260 | 10,013 |
| 2017 | 4,820 | 4,722 |
| 2018 | 5,880 | 5,817 |
| 2019 | 5,930 | 6,038 |
| 2020 | 6,500 | 6,551 |
| 2021 | 3,470 | 3,361 |
| 2022 | 3,520 | 3,432 |
| 2023 | 5,340 | 5,323 |
| 2024 | 4,390 | 4,288 |
| 2025 | 4,910 | 4,701 |
Nearby countries
- India324,930 km² in an average year
- Myanmar189,670 km² in an average year
- China182,410 km² in an average year
- Indonesia104,670 km² in an average year
- Thailand104,620 km² in an average year
- Lao PDR73,670 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby countries
- Maldives945 km
What sits behind each of these fires
Attached to every fire in the list above, and redrawn hourly.
