Traditional Keralite legend proclaims that Parasurama, an Avatar of Mahavishnu, threw his battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of Kerala arose and was reclaimed from the waters. Geologically Kerala was created possibly as a result of a seismic shift that caused part of the seabed to rise, or as a result of silting from South Indian Rivers over of years.

During Neolithic times, humans largely avoided Kerala's malarial rainforests and wetlands. First settled in the 10th century BCE by speakers of Proto-South Dravidian, Kerala was influenced by the Mauryan Empire. Later, the Cheran Kingdom and feudal Namboothri Brahminical city-states became major powers in the region.

By the early 14th century, Kerala had become a linguistically distinct region. The first major recorded kingdom, the Chera, ruled Kerala from Vanchi. Allied with the Pallavas, they warred against the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. A Keralite identity—distinct from the Tamils and associated with the second Chera Empire and the development of Malayalam—evolved during the 8th–14th centuries.

Kerala’s 38,863 - km² landmass (1.18% of India) is wedged between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Western Ghats—identified as one of the world's twenty-five Biodiversity hotspots—to the east. 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 (360.4 miles), while the state itself varies from 35–120 km (21.74 - 74.56 miles) in width.

 

Much of Kerala's notable biodiversity is concentrated and protected in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve in the eastern hills. Almost a fourth of India's 10,000 plant species are found in the state. Its 9,400 km² of forests include tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, tropical moist and dry deciduous forests, and montage subtropical forests. Altogether, 24% of Kerala is forested.

Kerala's fauna are notable for their diversity and high rates of endemism: 102 species of Mammals (56 of which are endemic), 476 species of birds, 202 species of freshwater Fishes, 169 species of Reptiles (139 of them endemic), and 89 species of Amphibians (86 endemic).

• Malabar: (Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad)

• Kochi : (Thrissur, Ernakulam)

• Travancore: (Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram)

Kerala has 145,704 Km of roads (4.2% of India's total). This translates into about 4.62 km of road per thousand
populations; compared to an all-India average of 2.59 km. virtually all of Kerala's villages are connected by road.

Top