Galle (Sinhala: ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය gālla distrikkaya; Tamil: காலி மாவட்டம் Kāli māvattam) is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka.

The river Madu Ganga starts from Polathu Kanda and flows to the sea from Balapitiya and helps to maintain ecological balance in the Galle district.

In ancient Sri Lanka, Galle District secured an important place in the battles against enemies as the capital city of Southern Province.

Galle was a very important area during the reign of King Maha Parakramabahu and it very much helped the Dutch, Portuguese and English establish their kingdoms.

Thotagamuwa Vijayaba Pirivena, which was a famous educational institute in the Kotte era,[2] produced a number of notable scholars.

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera, Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, Martin Wickramasinghe, Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Seneka Bibile Nandadasa Kodagoda, Edwin Ariyadasa, M. B. Ariyapala, Gunadasa Amarasekera, D. J. Wimalasurendra, Senarath Paranavithana, A. T. Ariyaratne, Sirimal Ranawella and Ariyapala Gurunnanse are a number of notable residents of Galle.