Facts about Kerala

Location:
Kerala state is located in southwestern India. Neighboring states include Karnataka to the north and Tamil Nadu to the south and east, and the Arabian sea is to the west. Major cities include the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. Malayalam is the principal spoken language. A survey conducted in 2005 by Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country.

The name Kerala may has an uncertain etymology. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil chera-alam ("declivity of a hill or a mountain slope") or chera alam ("Land of the Cheras").Kerala may represent an imperfect Malayalam portmanteau fusing kera ("coconut tree") and alam ("land" or "location").
Natives of Kerala, known as Malayalis or Keralites, refer to their land as Keralam.

Geography:
Kerala is wedged between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats. Lying between north latitudes 8°18' and 12°48' and east longitudes 74°52' and 72°22', Kerala is well within the humid equatorial tropics. Kerala’s coast runs for some 580 km (360 miles), while the state itself varies between 35 and 120 km (22–75 miles) in width. Geographically, Kerala can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the western lowlands (coastal plains).
Eastern Kerala consists of high mountains, gorges and deep-cut valleys immediately west of the Western Ghats' rain shadow. Forty one of Kerala’s west-flowing rivers, and three of its east-flowing ones originate in this region.
The Western Ghats form a wall of mountains interrupted only near Palakkad, where the Palakkad Gap breaks through to provide access to the rest of India. The Western Ghats rises on average to 1,500 m (4920 ft) above sea level, while the highest peaks may reach to 2,500 m (8200 ft).
Just west of the mountains lie the midland plains comprising central Kerala, dominated by rolling hills and valleys.
 Generally ranging between elevations of 250–1,000 m (820–3300 ft), the eastern portions of the Nilgiri and Palni Hills include such formations as Agastyamalai and Anamalai.
Kerala’s western coastal belt is relatively flat, and is criss-crossed by a network of interconnected brackish canals, lakes, estuaries, and rivers known as the Kerala Backwaters. Lake Vembanad—Kerala’s largest body of water—dominates the Backwaters; it lies between Alappuzha and Kochi and is more than 200 km² in area. Around 8% of India's waterways (measured by length) are found in Kerala. The most important of Kerala’s forty four rivers include the Periyar (244 km), the Bharathapuzha (209 km), the Pamba (176 km), the Chaliyar (169 km), the Kadalundipuzha (130 km), the Valapattanam (129 km) and the Achankovil (128 km). The average length of the rivers of Kerala is 64 km. Most of the remainder are small and entirely fed by monsoon rains.

State Districts and subdivisions:
Kerala's fourteen districts are distributed among Kerala's five historical regions: Malabar (North Kerala), Kochi (central Kerala),Travancore (southern Kerala).
In Malabar following are the districts: Kasaragod, Kannur,Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram,Palakkad
Cochin has Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. The Travancore region include Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala's districts are further subdivided into 62 taluks, 1453 villages and 1007 Gram panchayats.
Kochi is the most populous urban agglomeration and the major port city of Kerala. Kozhikode, Thrissur, and Kannur are the other major commercial centers of the state. Kannur is the most urbanised district in Kerala with urban population of 1,212,898, which is the second largest in Kerala after Ernakulam district.
Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is the state capital and most populous city.
Mahé, a part of the Indian union territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry), is a coastal exclave surrounded by Kerala on all of its landward approaches.

Economy:
In fiscal year 2004–2005, nominal gross state domestic product (GSDP) was Rs 89,451.99 crore (US$ 18.43 billion). Recent GSDP growth (9.2% in 2004–2005 and 7.4% in 2003–2004) has been robust compared to historical averages. The state clocked 8.93% growth in enterprises from 1998 to 2005 compared with 4.80% nationally. Kerala's Human Development Index rating is the highest in India. This apparently paradoxical "Kerala phenomenon" or "Kerala model of development" of high human and low economic development results from the strong service sector. Kerala's economy depends on emigrants working in foreign countries (mainly in the Gulf countries such as Dubai or Bahrain) and remittances annually contribute more than a fifth of GSDP.
The service sector (including tourism, public administration, banking and finance, transportation, and communications—63.8% of GSDP in 2002–2003) and the agricultural and fishing industries (together 17.2% of GSDP) dominate the economy. Nearly half of Kerala's people are dependent on agriculture alone for income. Some 600 varieties of rice (Kerala's most important staple food and cereal crop) are harvested from 3105.21 km² of paddy fields. Other key crops include coconut, tea, coffee (23% of Indian production, rubber, cashews, and spices—including pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Around 1.050 million fishermen haul an annual catch of 668,000 tonnes (1999–2000 estimate); 222 fishing villages are strung along the 590 km coast. Another 113 fishing villages dot the hinterland.
Traditional industries manufacturing such items as coir, handlooms, and handicrafts employ around one million people. Around 180,000 small-scale industries employ around 909,859 Keralites; 511 medium and large scale manufacturing firms are located in Kerala. A small mining sector involves extraction of ilmenite, kaolin, bauxite, silica, quartz, rutile, zircon, and sillimanite. Home gardens and animal husbandry also provide work for hundreds of thousands of people. Other major sectors are tourism, manufacturing, and business process outsourcing. Poverty rate figures range from 12.71% to as high as 36%.

Religion
Kerala is unique in India for its diverse mix of religions. According to Census of India figures, 56 percent of Kerala residents are Hindus, 24 percent are Muslims, 19 percent are Christians and the remaining one percent follows other religions.

Hinduism has undoubtedly shaped Kerala, and Kerala has in turn left its mark on Hinduism. The major Hindu castes are Nambudiri, Nairs, Ezhavas and Dalits.
Judaism: The Abrahamic religions attest to Kerala's prominence as a major trade center. Judaism arrived in Kerala with spice traders, possibly as early as the 7th century BC. A significant Jewish community existed in Kerala until the 20th century when most emigrated to Israel leaving only a handful of families.
Christianity: .In AD 52, Christianity reached the shores of Kerala with the arrival of St Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. The major Christian denominations are Catholic (Rites: Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Latin), Orthodox (Churches: Jacobite, Malankara, Malabar Independent Syrian), Marthoma, and various Protestant churches (Church of South India (CSI), St. Thomas Evangelical Church, and Pentecostal Churches). St. Francis Church, Kochi, is the oldest European church in India (built in 1503). Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was buried in this church
Islam arrived in Kerala through Arab traders either during the time of Muhammad (AD 609 - AD 632) or in the following few decades. In the 7th Century, the Zamorine of Kozhikode allowed these traders to settle and form a major community in Kozhikode, from where the religion gradually spread in following centuries.
Jainism, which arrived in Kerala around the 3rd century BC, has a considerable population in the Wayanad district bordering the Karnataka state.
Buddhism arrived in Kerala around the 2nd century BC with the missionary activity of Ashoka the Great, and maintained a significant presence until the revival of Brahminic Hinduism in the 8th century AD. Few adherents of Buddhism remain in Kerala, today.

Major Hindu pilgrimage centers are located in Guruvayur, Sabarimala,Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Attukal, Ettumanoor,Kodungallur Parassinikkadavu Muthappan temple, Kadampuzha, Kottiyoor and Chottanikkara. Christians have prominent churches and shrines in Malayattoor, Arthungal, Bharananganam, Kuravilangad, Parumala, Manarcaud, Edathua,Edapally, Puthenchira and Velur . Famous Muslim mosques are located at Ponnani, Pappinisseri, Koyilandi, Nadapuram, Kodungallur, Cherukunnu, and Kasaragode. Kerala Jews centered in the city of Kochi have the Cochin Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in India.