The Indian state of Kerala borders with the states of Tamil Nadu on the south and east, Karnataka on the north and the Arabian 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. 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.

The state of Kerala is divided into 14 revenue districts. On the basis of geographical, historical and cultural similarities, the districts are generally grouped into Malabar (Northern Kerala) (Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikkode, Malappuram); Kochi Region (Central Kerala) (Palakkad, Thrissur, Eranakulam); and Travancore (South Kerala) (Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki). 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 3 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 Wayanad district& Ernakulam district. The 14 districts are further divided into 62 taluks, 999 revenue villages and 1007 Gram panchayats. Some of the districts and their towns were renamed in 1990 like Thiruvananthapuram (formerly known as Trivandrum), Kollam (Quilon), Alappuzha (Alleppey),Thrissur (Trichur or Thirushivaperur), Palakkad (Palghat), Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kannur (Cannanore).

Kerala or Keralam /ˈkɛrələ/ is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was formed on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions.

The state has an area of 38,863 km² (15,005 sq mi) and is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea on the west. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital. Kochi and Kozhikode are other major cities. According to a survey by The Economic Times, five out of ten best cities to live in India are located in Kerala.

Kerala has the highest Human Development Index in India, higher than that of most developed countries The state has the highest literacy rate in India with 93.91 percent. It hopes to be the first e-literate state in India through the state run Akshaya project. The state recently became and is currently the only one to have banking facilities in every village. A survey conducted in 2005 by Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country. Kerala is also ranked as India's cleanest state. Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the Persian Gulf countries during the Kerala Gulf boom and is heavily dependent on remittances from its large Malayali expatriate community.