List of districts in Kerala

Districts of Kerala, south India.

The Indian state of Kerala borders with the states of Tamil Nadu on the south and east, Karnataka on the north and the Lakshadweep Sea coastline on the west. The Western Ghats, bordering the eastern boundary of the State, form an almost continuous mountain wall, except near Palakkad where there is a natural mountain pass known as the Palakkad Gap.[1] When the independent India amalgamated small states together Travancore and Cochin states were integrated to form Travancore-Cochin state on 1 July 1949. However, Malabar remained under the Madras province. The States Reorganisation Act of 1 November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood.[2]

The state of Kerala is divided into 14 revenue districts. On the basis of geography the state's districts are generally grouped into three parts :- The North Kerala districts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode ; the Central Kerala districts of Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kottayam and the South Kerala districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta.[3] Such a regional division occurred being part of historical Kingdoms of Kochi, Travancore and British Province of Malabar. The Travancore region is again divided into three zones as Northern Travancore (Hill Range) (Idukki and parts of Ernakulam), Central Travancore (Central Range) (Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam) and Southern Travancore (South Range) (Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam). Almost all of the districts in Kerala have the same name as the important town or city in the district, the exception being Idukki district, Wayanad district& Ernakulam district. The 14 districts are further divided into 75 taluks, and 941 Gram panchayats. Some of the districts and their towns were renamed in 1990 like Thiruvananthapuram (formerly known as Trivandrum), Kollam (Quilon or Venad), Alappuzha (Alleppey),[4][5] Thrissur (Trichur or Thirushivaperur), Palakkad (Palghat), Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kannur (Cannanore).

Administrative structure

Kerala State has been divided into 14 districts, 75 taluks, 152 community development blocks, 978 Gram panchayats, 6 corporations and 87 municipalities.[6]

A district is governed by a District Collector, who is an officer from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of Kerala cadre and is appointed by the State Government of Kerala. Functionally the district administration is carried on through the various Departments of the State Government each of which has an office of its own the district level. The District Collector is the executive leader of the district administration and the District Officers of the various Departments in the district render technical advice to him in the discharge of his duties. The District Collector is a key functionary of Government having large powers and responsibilities. He has a dual role to both as the agent of the Government of the state and also as the representative of the people in the district. He is also responsible for the maintenance of the law and order of the district.[7]

Other than urban units such as town municipalities and rural units called Gram panchayats, other government administrative subdivisions includes taluks and 'community development blocks' (also known as CD blocks or blocks). A taluk consists of urban units such as census towns and rural units called gram panchayats. The Tahsildar in charge of each taluk is primarily the Revenue Official responsible for the collection of revenue of the taluk, but he is also expected to be in direct contact with the people at all levels and to have first hand knowledge of the conditions of every village under his jurisdiction. The Tahsildar is assisted in each village by village officers and village assistants.[8] A block also consists of such as census towns and Gram panchayats. A block is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), who is appointed by the Government of Kerala. A gram panchayat, which consists of a group of villages, is administered by a village council headed by a Gram Panchayat President.

A District Superintendent of Police, better known as a Superintendent of Police, heads the District Police organization of Kerala Police. This is as per the Police Act of 1861, which is applicable to the whole of India.[9] The Superintendents of Police are officers of the Indian Police Service.[10] For every subdivision, there is a Subdivision Police, headed by a Police officer of the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police.[11] Under subdivisions, there are Police Circles, each headed by an Inspector of Police.[11] A Police Circle consists of Police Stations, each headed by an Inspector of Police, or in case of rural areas, by a Sub-Inspector of Police.[11]

The Kerala High Court has the jurisdiction of the state of Kerala. Each of the districts has a District Court.

Histories

At the time of formation, Kerala had only five districts: Malabar (part of the erstwhile Madras State), Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam and Thrissur (together constituting the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin). On 1 January 1957, the Malabar district was divided into the districts of Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Kannur. Alappuzha district was carved out of erstwhile Kottayam and Kollam districts on 17 August 1957.[4] Ernakulam district was formed on 1 April 1958, carving out of parts of erstwhile Thrissur and Kottayam districts. Malappuram district was formed on 6 June 1969 with Ernad and Tirur taluks of the erstwhile Kozhikode district and Perinthalmanna and Ponnani taluks of Palakkad district. Idukki district was formed on 26 January 1972 with Devikulam, Udumbanchola and Peermedu taluks of the erstwhile Kottayam district and Thodupuzha taluk of the erstwhile Ernakulam district. Wayanad district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Pathanamthitta district was formed on 1 November 1982 carving out the entire Pathanamthitta taluk and nine villages of Kunnathur taluk from Kollam district, entire Thiruvalla taluk and part of Chenganur and Mavelikkara taluks from Alapphuzha district and parts of Idukki district. Kasaragod district was formed on 24 May 1984 as the 14th revenue district by carving out a major portion of the erstwhile Kannur district.

Alphabetical listing

Code[12] District Headquarters[13] Established[14] Subdivisions Population (2011)[13] Area[15] Population Density (2011) District Collector
AL Alappuzha Alappuzha 17 Aug 1957[4] 2,121,943 1,414 km2 (546 sq mi) 1,501/km2 (3,890/sq mi) Veena Madhavan
ER Ernakulam Kakkanad 1 Apr 1958[16] 3,279,860 3,068 km2 (1,185 sq mi) 1,069/km2 (2,770/sq mi) Mohammed Y. Safirulla K.
ID Idukki Painavu 26 Jan 1972[18][19] 1,107,453 4,358 km2 (1,683 sq mi) 254/km2 (660/sq mi) G. R. Gokul
KN Kannur Kannur 1 Jan 1957[20] 2,525,637 2,966 km2 (1,145 sq mi) 852/km2 (2,210/sq mi) Mir Mohammed Ali
KS Kasaragod Kasaragod 24 May 1984[21][22] 1,302,600 1,992 km2 (769 sq mi) 654/km2 (1,690/sq mi) Jeevan Babu
KL Kollam Kollam 1 Nov 1956[24]
( 1 July 1949)[25][26]		 2,629,703 2,491 km2 (962 sq mi) 1,056/km2 (2,740/sq mi) T. Mithra
KT Kottayam Kottayam 1 Nov 1956[27]
( )[25]		 1,979,384 2,208 km2 (853 sq mi) 896/km2 (2,320/sq mi) C. A. Latha
KZ Kozhikode Kozhikode 1 Jan 1957[29] 3,089,543 2,344 km2 (905 sq mi) 1,318/km2 (3,410/sq mi) N. Prasanth
MA Malappuram Malappuram 16 Jun 1969[31] 4,110,956 3,550 km2 (1,370 sq mi) 1,158/km2 (3,000/sq mi) A. Shainamol
PL Palakkad Palakkad 1 Jan 1957[32] 2,810,892 4,480 km2 (1,730 sq mi) 627/km2 (1,620/sq mi) P. Marykutty
PT Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta 1 Nov 1982[34][35] 1,195,537 2,637 km2 (1,018 sq mi) 453/km2 (1,170/sq mi) R. Girija
TV Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram 1 Nov 1956[25][37] 3,307,284 2,192 km2 (846 sq mi) 1,509/km2 (3,910/sq mi) Venkatesapathy S.
TS Thrissur Thrissur 1 Nov 1956[38]
(1 Jul 1949)[25]		 3,110,327 3,032 km2 (1,171 sq mi) 1,026/km2 (2,660/sq mi) Dr. A. Kowsigan
WA Wayanad Kalpetta 1 Nov 1980[39] 816,558 2,131 km2 (823 sq mi) 383/km2 (990/sq mi) B. S. Thirumeni
Total  —  —  —  — 33,387,677 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi) 859.11/km2 (2,225.1/sq mi)  —

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kerala :General Features". Government of Kerala. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  2. ↑ "Know India :Kerala". Government of India. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  3. ↑ "Kerala has 14 districts". Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Alappuzha : History". alappuzha.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  5. ↑ As per GO(P) No.133/90/RD dated 7.2.90, Government of Kerala
  6. ↑ "Local Bodies in Kerala - 2015". Local Self Government Department, Kerala.
  7. ↑ "District Administration [sic]". Kollam.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  8. 1 2 "Taluks and Villages". Kollam.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  9. ↑ "The Police Act, 1861". India Code Legislative Department. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  10. ↑ "Indian Police Service (Uniform) Rules". Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  11. 1 2 3 "Police Organization of India" (PDF). Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. p. 9. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  12. ↑ "NIC Policy on format of e-mail Address: Appendix (2): Districts Abbreviations as per ISO 3166–2" (PDF). Ministry Of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India. 2004-08-10. pp. 5–10. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  13. 1 2 "Districts : Kerala". Government of India portal. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  14. ↑ Here 'Established' means the year of establishment as a district of Kerala. If the district was formed earlier than the formation of the state of Kerala, 1 Nov 1956 will be considered as the day of establishment of the district.
  15. ↑ "Part I: state" (PDF). Government of India Census portal. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  16. ↑ "History of Ernakulam". ernakulam.nic.in ( Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Govt. of India). Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  17. ↑ "Taluks — Ernakulam District". ernakulam.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  18. ↑ "IDUKKI : History". idukki.nic.in ( Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Govt. of India). Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  19. ↑ as per Government notification No 54131/C2/71/RD dated 24 January 1972, Government of Kerala
  20. 1 2 "Kannur district : Administration". knr.kerala.gov.in ( Govt. of Kerala). Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  21. ↑ "DISTRICT CAME INTO EXISTENCE...". kasargod.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  22. ↑ As per GO.(MS)No.520/84/RD dated 19.05.1984 , Government of Kerala
  23. ↑ "Kasaragod District > taluks". kasargod.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  24. ↑ "Short History of Kollam". kollam.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Note: This date means the day when the district was initially formed, even before the formation of the state of Kerala. Hence 1 Nov 1956 will be considered as the day of formation of district in the state of Kerala
  26. ↑ Paravur, Kollam
  27. ↑ "District Handbooks of Kerala KOTTAYAM" (PDF). kerala.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  28. ↑ "KOTTAYAM : Short History". Kerala.gov.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  29. ↑ "Kozhikode: History". kozhikode.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  30. ↑ "Kozhikode: Administration". kozhikode.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  31. 1 2 "Malappuram: HISTORY". malappuram.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  32. ↑ "Welcome to Palghat". palghat.net. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  33. ↑ "BASIC STATISTICS of PALAKKAD". palakkad.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  34. ↑ "Pathanamthitta : History". pathanamthitta.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  35. ↑ As per GO (MS) No.1026/82/(RD) dated 29.10.1982, Government of Kerala
  36. ↑ "Pathanamthitta : Administration". pathanamthitta.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  37. ↑ "THIRUVANANTHAPURAM". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  38. 1 2 "Thrissur At A Glance". thrissur.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  39. 1 2 "Wayanad :profile". wayanad.nic.in. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
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