Demographics of Kerala


is a state in south-western India. Most of Kerala's 34.8 million people are ethnicity Malayalis. Most of the Malayalam and English speaking Keralites derive their ancestry from Dravidian communities that settled in Kerala. Additional ancestries derive from several centuries of contact with non-Indian lands, whereby people of Arab, Jewish, and other ethnicities settled in Kerala. Many of these immigrants intermarried with native Malayalam speakers resulting in formation of many Christians and Muslims in Kerala. A tiny number of Muslims thus take lineage from Arab settlers mixed with local population.
Malayalam is Kerala's official language and is spoken by at least 96% of the people of Kerala; the next most common languages are English and Tamil, spoken mainly by migrant workers from North and eastern parts of India and also from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Tulu and Kannada is spoken in most parts of the northern district of Kasaragod, adjoining Karnataka. In addition, Kerala is home to 321,000 indigenous tribal Adivasis. Some 63% of tribals reside in the eastern districts of Wayanad, Palakkad, and Idukki. These groups, including the Paniyars, Mooppans, Irulars, Kurumbars, and Mudugars, speak their own native languages. Cholanaikkan tribe in the Silent Valley National Park were contacted only in the 1970s and they are the most isolated tribe in the state.

Population

Kerala is home to 2.76% of India's population, and at 859 persons per km²; its land is three times as densely settled as the rest of India. However, Kerala's population growth rate is far lower than the national average, although Kerala's population more than doubled between 1951 and 1991 — adding 15.6 million people to reach a total of 29.1 million residents in 1991 — the population stood at 31.8 million by 2001 and 33.3 million in 2011. Kerala's people are most densely settled in the coastal region, leaving the eastern hills and mountains comparatively sparsely populated.
Hinduism is followed by the majority of Keralites. The major religions followed in Kerala are Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.
Kerala also had a tiny Jewish population until recently, said to date from 587 BC when they fled the occupation of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The 2001 Indian census recorded only 51 Jews in Kerala. The synagogue in Kochi is the oldest in the Commonwealth of Nations.
The state has many famous temples, mosques, and churches. The oldest church in India is found in Kerala, believed to be established by St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus Christ and the Cheramaan Juma Mosque is considered to be the oldest mosque in the Indian subcontinent which was built by an Islamic missionary Malik Dinar.
YearPopulationDecadal growth
2011334060614.91
2001318413749.43
19912909851814.32
19812545368019.24
19712134737526.29
19611690371524.76
19511354911822.82
19411103154116.04
1931950705021.85
192178021279.16
1911714767311.75
19016392620--

Population graph of Kerala from 1910-2011

Features

Social development

Kerala ranks highest in India with respect to social development indices such as elimination of poverty, primary education and healthcare. This resulted from significant efforts begun in 1911 by the erstwhile Princely states of Cochin and Travancore to boost healthcare and education among the people and aided by the Christian missionaries. This central focus — deemed unusual in India — was then maintained after Kerala's post-independence inauguration as a state. Thus, Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India of 93.91% ; and life expectancy is now the highest in India. The suicide rates in Kerala are the highest in India. As per the 2011 census, Kerala and Puducherry are the only domiciles in India with a female-to-male ratio higher than 0.99. The ratio for Kerala is 1.084 — 1084 females per 1000 males — while the national figure is 0.940. It is also one of the states in India to have sub-replacement fertility.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization designated Kerala as the world's first "baby-friendly state" via its "Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative". The state is also known for Ayurveda, a traditional system of medicine — this traditional expertise is currently drawing increasing numbers of medical tourists. However, drawbacks to this situation includes the population's steady aging — indeed, 11.2% of Keralites are age 60 or over.
Kerala's unusual socioeconomic and demographic situation was summarized by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben:

Expatriation and Emigration

As of 2011, a total of 2,280,000 Keralites reside outside India. Largest populations are found in UAE and USA.
The major concentrations of expat Keralites are in the following nations:
There are more than 2,500,000 migrants living in Kerala, mostly from Assam and West Bengal, constituting more than 8% of the population. There are also migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and the North East.. Alarmed at this, some have even written that "of late, Kerala has been hearing more Bengali than its own local language" Most of the migrants tend to concentrate around especially in Kochi and Trivandrum and Calicut.
Studies indicate that by the time of 2016 state elections, migrants will become a crucial voting block in many of the constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur districts.

Lists

Class I cities

Kerala has six major cities: Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kollam, Thrissur and Kannur. Over a third of Keralites live in these large cities, and over half the population lives in urban centres.
According to World Gazetteer population calculation for the year 2010, five of the top 100 most populous metropolitan areas in India belong to Kerala. They are Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kollam ranking 26, 43, 46, 73 and 86 respectively.

Most populous urban agglomerations

The following is a list of most populous urban agglomerations in the Kerala state of India. Population statistics indicated are as of 2011 census.
.
RankUAPopulation Population District
1Kochi2,117,9901,355,972Ernakulam
2Kozhikode2,030,519715,681Kozhikode
3Thrissur1,854,783103,122Thrissur
4Malappuram1,698,645170,409Malappuram
5Thiruvananthapuram1,679,7541,089,635Thiruvananthapuram
6Kannur1,642,892498,207Kannur
7Kollam1,110,005380,091Kollam
8Cherthala455,408141,558Alappuzha
9Kayamkulam427,09168,585Alappuzha
10Kottayam357,533172,878Kottayam
11Palakkad293,566283,369Palakkad
12Alappuzha241,072282,675Alappuzha
13Ottappalam238,23849,242Palakkad
14Kanhangad229,706129,367Kasaragod
15Kasaragod192,76175,968Kasaragod
16Changanassery127,97151,967Kottayam
17Chalakkudy114,90148,380Thrissur
18Kothamangalam114,57437,173Ernakulam

Ethnic groups

The vast majority of residents of Kerala are Malayalis, but there are many smaller ethnic groups including Tuluvas, Tamils, Kannadigas and Konkanis. In addition, as of early 2013 there are close to 2.5 million migrant workers from other states of India in Kerala.

Religion

Hindus constitute 54.7% of the population of Kerala, followed by Islam with 26.5% population and Christianity at third with 18.3% population as per 2011 census.

Caste/Communities

Castes of Kerala

!Religion
! Caste || Population

Age structure

Year:19611971198119912001
Age:19.2819.3921.8124.3628.87
Male:
Female

Urbanisation

Birth rate

17.1 births/1,000 population
Birth Rate was 17.1 in 1994-2001. Pathanamthitta had the lowest TBR and Malappuram had the highest TBR.
According to the 2011 Census, the Thiruvalla taluk is having the lowest birth rate and the Tirurangadi taluk is having the highest birth rate.
Lowest Birth Rate :
  1. Thiruvalla - 10.63 per 1,000
  2. Mallappally - 10.69 per 1,000
  3. Kozhenchery - 10.86 per 1,000
  4. Chengannur - 10.93 per 1,000
  5. Adoor - 11.09 per 1,000
Highest Birth Rate :
  1. Tirurangadi - 19.99 per 1,000
  2. Ernad - 19.68 per 1,000
  3. Perinthalmanna - 19.43 per 1,000
  4. Tirur - 19.16 per 1,000
  5. Nilambur - 18.34 per 1,000
Vital stats for the year 2011:
CommunityPopBirthsBirth RateDeathsDeath RateNGR%
Total33,406,061560,26816.77245,0027.330.94%
Hindu18,282,492248,61013.60148,0978.100.55%
Muslim8,873,472214,09924.1345,3055.111.90%
Christian6,141,26994,66415.4150,3658.200.72%

Of the emigrants from Kerala, 42.2% were Muslims, 36.6% were Hindus and 21.2% were Christians in 1992-93. The most preferred destination was Saudi Arabia, followed by UAE, Other Gulf countries, Oman, Other Countries and USA.

Sex ratio

According to the 2011 census, women outnumber men in all the districts of Kerala with the highest proportion in Kannur and Pathanamthitta districts.
DistrictsPopulationMales%Females%
Thiruvananthapuram3,301,4271,581,67847.9% 1,719,74952.1%
Kollam2,635,3751,246,96847.3% 1,388,40752.7%
Pathanamthitta1,197,412561,71646.8%635,69653.2%
Alappuzha2,127,7891,013,14247.6% 1,114,64752.4%
Kottayam1,974,551968,28949% 1,006,26251%
Idukki1,108,974552,80849.8% 556,16650.2%
Ernakulam3,282,3881,619,55749.3% 1,662,83150.7%
Thrissur3,121,2001,480,76347.4% 1,640,43752.6%
Palakkad2,809,9341,359,47848.4% 1,450,45651.6%
Malappuram4,112,9201,960,32847.7% 2,152,59252.3%
Kozhikode3,086,2931,470,94247.7% 1,615,35152.3%
Waynad817,420401,68449.1% 415,73650.9%
Kannur2,523,0031,181,44646.8% 1,341,55753.2%
Kasargod1,307,375628,61348.1% 678,76251.9%

Vital Statistics

Life expectancy at birth

In 1991, Kerala had the lowest TFR in the whole of India. Hindus had a TFR of 1.66, Christians had 1.78 and Muslims had 2.97. In 2000, the TFR was 1.73 with Muslims having 2.28, Nairs having a TFR of 1.47 and Syrian Christians having TFR of 1.55. TFR for Scheduled Castes was 1.52 in 1997-98 and 1.37 in 1992-93. The lowest Fertility rate recorded anywhere in India is TFR of 1.17 for Vettuvan caste in Kerala.
As per the 2011 Census, the fertility rate per community is as Hindu: 1.544 children per woman, Muslim: 2.351 and Christian: 1.716. For SC, the fertility is 1.485 and for ST, it is 1.629.
For Hindus, the TFR is highest in Wayanad and lowest in Thiruvananthapuram. For the Muslims, it is Kannur and Pathanamthitta, while for the Christians the respective districts are Kasaragod and Kollam.