Kerala

Kerala is a state in southernmost India, bounded by the Arabian Sea on the west, Karnataka on the north and Tamil Nadu on the east. Kerala is one of India's e mountainous states. The physiography is quite diverse. Kerala is famous for its backwaters.

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is the state capital. Other important cities are: Kochi, Kottayam and Kozhikode. Alleppey is a town with lot of picturesque canals, backwaters and lagoons. It was described as the "Venice of the East" by Marco Polo.

Malayalam is the dominant (95%) language in Kerala.

Coconut, tea and rubber are grown extensively. Tourism plays an important role in state economy. Coir and Cashew production are also important.

Kerala has a rich tradition of music and dance. It is the origin of classical dance Kathakali.

Keralites are predominantly Hindus (57%), followed by Muslims (23%) and Christians (19%). Muslims prevail in the north, Christians primarily in the central area around Kochi and Kottayam and Hindus in the south mainly around Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala also sports a tiny Jewish population, said to date from 587 BC when they fled the occupation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnessar.

Kerala is an education success story. With its GDP per capita below the nation's average, Kerala boasts a low infant mortality rate and 90% literacy rate, which is not only among the highest in India (nation's average is 52%), but also above its former colonists, Portugal.

The state has many famous temples, churches, mosques and a (Jewish) synagogue which is unique of its kind in the country.

History

Vasco da Gama's voyage to Kerala from Portugal in 1498 was largely motivated by Portuguese determination to break the Keralan Muslims' control over the trade between local spice producers and the Middle East. He established India's first Portuguese fortress at Cochin in 1503 and from there, taking advantage of rivalry existing between the royal families of Calicut and Cochin, managed to destroy the monopoly. The dispute between Calicut and Cochin, however, provided an opportunity for the Dutch to come in and finally expel the Portuguese from their forts. The British moved into the area in the form of the British East India Company and were firmly established in Kerala by the beginning of the seventeenth century. Tipu Sultan attempted to encroach on British-held territory in 1792, but he was defeated and the British remained in control until independence.

The Portuguese were surprised to discover, when they arrived in Kerela 500 years ago, that Christianity was already established. The history of that community dates back to the arrival in 52 AD of St. Thomas the Apostle, Doubting Thomas, and to the establishing of a Christian community by a contingent of Syrian Christians who arrived in 192 AD via Baghdad.

Modern day Kerala was created in 1956 from Malabar, which had been part of the Madras Presidency, and from Travancore and Cochin. The latter two were princely states which had been ruled by maharajas, both being somewhat unique among their kind in that they had concerned themselves with the education and provision of basic services to the residents of their territories.

Since its first election in 1957 (which makes it the first communist party winning the democratic elections, ever) Kerala's Communist Party has been regularly, though not consistently, in power in the state.