| Demographics of Kerala | |
|---|---|
.png) Population pyramid taken from the 2011 census | |
| Population | 34.8 million |
| Density | 859 per sq.km |
| Growth rate | 3.31% yearly (2021 estimate) |
| Life expectancy | |
| • male | 75 years |
| • female | 80.15 years |
| Fertility rate | 1.82 births per woman |
| Infant mortality rate | 7 per 1000 live births |
| Net migration rate | -0.08 per 1000 (2019 estimate) |
| Age structure | |
| 0–14 years | 19% |
| 15–64 years | 70% |
| 65 and over | 12% |
| Sex ratio | |
| Total | 0.97 males/female |
| At birth | 1.04 males/female |
Kerala is a state in south-western India. Most of Kerala's 34.8 million people (in 2011) are ethnically Malayalis (Malayalam speakers). People of Kerala trace their origins to Dravidians and Aryans. Kerala people have mixed ancestry. [citation needed] Additional ancestries derive from millennia of trade links across the Arabian Sea, whereby people of Arab, Jewish, Syrian, Portuguese, English and other ethnicities settled in Kerala. Many of these immigrants intermarried with native Malayalam speakers resulting in formation of many Muslim and Christian groups in Kerala.[1][2] Some Muslims and Christians thus take lineage from Middle Eastern and European settlers who mixed with native population.
Malayalam is Kerala's official language and is spoken by at least 97% of the people of Kerala; the next most common language are English . Tamil which is spoken mainly in the bordering districts of Kerala with Tamilnadu, especially Idukki and Palakkad districts.Tulu and Kannada is spoken in northern parts of Kasaragod district, bordering Karnataka. In addition, Kerala is home to 321,000 indigenous tribal Adivasis (1.10% of the populace).[3] Some 63% of tribals reside in the eastern districts of Wayanad (where 35.82% are tribals), Palakkad (1.02%), and Idukki (15.66%).[4] These groups, including the Paniyars, Mooppans, Irulars, Kurumbars, and Mudugars,[5] speak their own native languages.[6][7][8] Cholanaikkan tribe in the Silent Valley National Park were contacted only in the 1970s and they are the most isolated tribe in the state.[9]
- ^ Western Influence on Malayalam Language and Literature by K. M. George, p2, ISBN 81-260-0413-4 Google book
- ^ Caste, Class and Catholicism in India 1789–1914 by Kenneth Ballhatchet, p2, ISBN 0-7007-1095-7
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, p. 10).
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, p. 12).
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, pp. 13–14).
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, pp. 30–32).
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, p. 37).
- ^ (Kalathil 2004, p. 39).
- ^ Heller, Patrick (June 1996). "Social capital as a product of class mobilization and state intervention: Industrial workers in Kerala, India". World Development. 24 (6): 1055–1071. doi:10.1016/0305-750X(96)00015-0.