The Basics
Kerala at a Glance
A narrow strip of green on India's south-west coast, between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea — one of the country's smaller states, but among its most developed.
- Thiruvananthapuram Capital and largest city; Kochi is the largest metro and commercial hub
- 1 Nov 1956 Formed under the States Reorganisation Act — celebrated as Kerala Piravi
- 38,863 km² Area — one of India's smaller states (~21st), about 1.2% of the country
- 14 districts A long-stable set — unchanged since Kasaragod was carved out in 1984
- Malayalam Official language — a Dravidian tongue with its own classical status
- 140 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 20 Lok Sabha & 9 Rajya Sabha seats
- ~580 km coast A long Arabian Sea coastline; bordered by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
- 44 rivers The Periyar is the longest; the famed backwaters centre on Vembanad, the state's largest lake
- Anamudi At 2,695 m, the highest peak in South India, in the Western Ghats
- Western Ghats The green mountain wall along the east — a global biodiversity hotspot
- State symbols Animal: elephant · Bird: great hornbill · Tree: coconut palm · Flower: kanikkonna
People
Population & Society
Kerala's people are its great story — the most literate, among the longest-living and the healthiest in India, and the only state with more women than men. Census 2011 is the last full count, so current totals are projections.
- 3.34 cr Population, 2011 (33,406,061) — India's 13th most populous
- 4.9% Decadal growth, 2001–2011 — among the lowest of any Indian state
- 860 /km² Population density, 2011 — well above the national average
- 1,084 Sex ratio — the highest in India; the only state with more women than men
- 94% Literacy rate, 2011 — the highest of any Indian state
- ~5 / lowest Infant mortality per 1,000 — the lowest in India; life expectancy among the highest (SRS)
- 47.7% Urbanisation, 2011 — one of the more urbanised major states
- Diverse faiths Hindu ~55%, Muslim ~27%, Christian ~18% (2011) — among India's most religiously mixed states
- ~2.2 million Keralites working abroad, mostly in the Gulf (Migration Survey, 2023)
Economy
Services, Remittances & a ₹14-Lakh-Crore Economy
A services-led economy with incomes above the national average, powered in good part by money sent home from the Gulf — though it also carries one of India's heavier debt burdens.
- ₹14.27 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices)
- ~12% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 (budget estimate)
- Above average Per-capita income well above the national average — among the higher states
- ~35% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP — a relatively high burden
What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2023-24)
- ~66% Services — trade, tourism, transport, finance & government
- ~24% Industry — construction, manufacturing & food processing
- ~10% Agriculture & allied — a low share, led by plantation crops
What drives it
- Remittances Money from migrants abroad equalled ~23% of state income in 2023 (Migration Survey) — a defining feature
- Tourism A major earner — the backwaters, hills, beaches and Ayurveda
- Highest wages Kerala has long paid the highest daily farm & construction wages in India
- State lottery India's first state lottery (1967) — a large gross revenue line for the government
- The Gulf connection: for half a century, work in the Gulf has shaped Kerala's economy — remittances build homes, fund education and underpin consumption across the state.
- Figures here are the latest Kerala Budget estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Kerala figure is for that earlier year.
Agriculture & Plantations
The Spice Coast
Kerala farms cash crops, not foodgrain — it is India's rubber state and the historic home of the pepper and cardamom trade, of coconut, coir, tea, coffee and cashew.
- Rubber #1 India's largest natural-rubber producer — around three-quarters of the national crop; the Rubber Board sits at Kottayam
- Pepper & cardamom The "Spice Coast" — the Idukki hills are the heart of India's cardamom and black pepper
- Coconut A historic coconut heartland — the name itself reads as the "land of coconut" (though Karnataka now leads in output)
- Coir The heart of India's coir industry, centred on Alappuzha — coconut-fibre matting and rope
- Tea & coffee The plantations of Munnar (tea) and Wayanad (coffee), high in the Ghats
- Cashew Kollam is a major cashew-processing hub, employing thousands of women
- Kuttanad Below-sea-level paddy farming — a globally recognised (FAO) agricultural heritage; home of Pokkali rice
Administrative
The Districts
Kerala has 14 districts, a set unchanged since 1984 — running down the coast from Kasaragod in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south. Pick one on the interactive map to highlight it above.
The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero.
What Makes Kerala Unique
The Kerala Model
Kerala is famous for reaching rich-world social outcomes on a modest income — top literacy and health, strong local democracy, deep religious antiquity, and the green Western Ghats.
Human development
- Highest HDI The highest Human Development Index of any Indian state
- Fully literate India's first state declared totally literate (1991); Ernakulam was the first district (1990)
- SDG leader Consistently tops NITI Aayog's SDG India Index — joint-first in the 2023-24 edition
- People's Plan A pioneering decentralisation that hands real budgets to local governments
Heritage & nature
- Western Ghats A UNESCO World Heritage Site (2012) — Kerala holds the largest share of its component sites
- Ancient faiths By tradition among India's oldest Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, on the old spice coast
- Padmanabhaswamy Thiruvananthapuram's temple — recognised as the world's richest Hindu temple, with one vault still sealed
- Ayurveda India's leading destination for Ayurveda and wellness
Culture & Traditions
Dance, Festivals & the Sadya
Kerala's culture runs from the painted faces of Kathakali and the oldest living Sanskrit theatre to the harvest joy of Onam, snake-boat races, and a feast served on a banana leaf.
- Kathakali The grand classical dance-drama, with Mohiniyattam, Kerala's two classical dances
- Koodiyattam The world's oldest living Sanskrit theatre — on UNESCO's heritage list (2008)
- Theyyam & Kalari The ritual art of north Kerala, and Kalaripayattu — among the oldest martial arts
- Onam The state harvest festival — the floral pookalam, the grand Onasadya feast
- Boat races & Pooram The Nehru Trophy snake-boat race at Alappuzha; the spectacular Thrissur Pooram
- Cuisine The sadya on a banana leaf, appam & stew, Malabar biryani — coconut in everything
Places to Visit
God's Own Country
One of India's most loved destinations — houseboats on the backwaters, tea hills in the mist, palm-fringed beaches and the old harbour of Fort Kochi.
- Backwaters Houseboats on Vembanad lake — Alappuzha & Kumarakom, the signature of Kerala
- Munnar Rolling tea hills high in the Western Ghats
- Fort Kochi The old port — Chinese fishing nets, colonial streets and the Jewish quarter
- Kovalam & Varkala The state's best-known beaches, on the Arabian Sea
- Thekkady The Periyar Tiger Reserve — wildlife by a forest lake
- Wayanad Green hills, spice plantations and forests in the north-east
- Ayurveda Monsoon-season treatments and wellness retreats across the state
- Kochi Biennale India's largest contemporary-art exhibition, in Fort Kochi
Modern Kerala
Ports, IT & a Water Metro
Kerala pairs its old strengths with new infrastructure — a deepwater transshipment port, India's first water metro, four international airports and a long-standing IT industry.
- Vizhinjam India's first deepwater transshipment port, near Thiruvananthapuram — inaugurated in 2025
- Water Metro Kochi's electric-ferry network — India's first water metro (2023) — beside its rail metro (2017)
- 4 airports Four international airports — Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode & Kannur
- Solar airport Cochin (CIAL) — the first airport built under PPP, and the world's first fully solar-powered one
- Cochin Shipyard India's largest shipyard — it built INS Vikrant, India's first home-built aircraft carrier
- IT & internet Technopark, Infopark & Cyberpark; the first state to call internet access a right (2019)
Road, Rail, Water & Air
Coast, Rails & Backwater Ferries
A densely connected coastal state — a busy rail spine down the shore, fast new trains, water transport on the backwaters, and a long-debated high-speed line.
- Railways Southern Railway runs the length of the coast, linking every major city
- Vande Bharat A fast train runs the state end to end — Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod
- Water transport Ferries and the Kochi Water Metro carry commuters across the backwaters
- Highways NH 66 hugs the coast; a state with very high rural road density
- Four airports Among the most airport-dense states — four international gateways
- SilverLine A proposed semi-high-speed line down the state — still only a plan, and much debated
People & Heritage
Icons of Kerala
A philosopher, a social reformer, a painter, a king and a president — a few of the figures this land has given India.
- Adi Shankaracharya The 8th-century philosopher of Advaita Vedanta, born at Kaladi
- Sree Narayana Guru The social reformer and saint — "one caste, one religion, one God for all"
- Raja Ravi Varma The pioneering painter of modern India, born at Kilimanoor
- Marthanda Varma Founder of modern Travancore, who beat the Dutch at Colachel (1741)
- E. M. S. Namboodiripad Led the 1957 government — among the world's first elected by ballot
- K. R. Narayanan President of India (1997–2002), born at Uzhavoor in Kottayam
Through the Ages
A Short History of Kerala
From the Roman spice trade and the coming of three faiths to da Gama's landfall and a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped Kerala.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Early centuries CE | Muziris, the great spice port, trades pepper with Rome |
| 52 CE (by tradition) | St Thomas the Apostle is said to bring Christianity to the Malabar coast |
| 629 CE (by tradition) | The Cheraman Juma Mosque at Kodungallur, said to be India's first |
| 8th century | Adi Shankaracharya, born at Kaladi, founds the Advaita Vedanta school |
| 9th–12th c. | The Kulasekhara (second Chera) kingdom rules from Mahodayapuram |
| 20 May 1498 | Vasco da Gama lands at Kappad, opening Europe's sea route to India |
| 16th–18th c. | The Portuguese, Dutch and British contest the spice trade |
| 1741 | Marthanda Varma defeats the Dutch at the Battle of Colachel |
| 1924–25 | The Vaikom Satyagraha challenges untouchability |
| 1 Nov 1956 | Kerala is formed under the States Reorganisation Act, with Thiruvananthapuram as capital |
| 1957 | Kerala elects one of the world's first communist governments by ballot |
| 2012 | The Western Ghats become a UNESCO World Heritage Site |