Kerala

Kerala, state in southwestern India, bordered on the north by Karnataka state, on the east by Tamil Nadu state, and on the south and west by the Arabian Sea.Its capital is Trivandrum.

Portuguese near Calicut (Kozhikode) in 1498, the region became the first in India to experience European intervention. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese in the 17th century, and their expansionist designs were in turn ended in 1741 by Maharaja Marthanda Varma of the princely state of Travancore.

Agriculture is very important to this fertile region. The principal agricultural products of the state are rice, tapioca, coconut, areca nuts, oilseeds, pepper, sugarcane, rubber, tea, coffee, and cardamom.Other manufactures are tiles, textiles, ceramics, fertilizers and chemicals, and glass. In addition, numerous factories process.

Major industrial towns are Calicut, Palghat, Valparai and cochin.

Area 15,005 square miles (38,863 square km). Population: (1991) 29,032,828.