List of Famous people born in Central Province, Sri Lanka

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman VrC is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who, during the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, was held captive in Pakistan for 60 hours after his aircraft was shot down in an aerial dogfight. He was awarded a medal by the Indian government for the alleged shooting down of a PAF F-16 with his MiG-21 Bison.

Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricket coach and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in international cricket and the first to take 800 wickets in Tests. As of December 2020 he has taken more wickets in Test matches than any other cricketer.

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the sport. Sangakkara scored 28,016 runs in international cricket across all formats in a career that spanned 15 years. At retirement, he was the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket and sixth-highest run scorer in Test cricket.

Mathilda Karlsson is a Sri Lankan born Swedish equestrian athlete. Mathila hails from Sri Lanka and was adopted by her Swedish parents when she was three months old. She competed for Sweden until 2018, when she switched to her native country. In 2021 she qualified as an individual rider for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, being the first Sri Lankan equestrian at the Olympic Games. She also became the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Her horse is named as Chopin VA.

Thilini Sudhara Jayasinghe is a Sri Lankan badminton player. Born in Peradeniya, Jayasinghe started playing badminton at age of 9, and has joined the national team in 2000. She attended Mahamaya College and was named Best Sports Woman in 2004. In 2006 and 2010, she competed at the Asian and Commonwealth Games. Jayasinghe also competed for Sri Lanka at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's singles event. She is the first woman badminton player to have ever represented Sri Lanka at the Olympic Games.

Sarath Leelananda Bandara Amunugama, MP, SLAS is a Sri Lankan politician and civil servant. He was the Cabinet Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning until April 2010. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District for the United People's Freedom Alliance in the Parliament of Sri Lanka.