Kozhikode district

This article is about the district in Kerala. For other uses, see Kozhikode (disambiguation).

Kozhikode district
District
Clockwise from top:
Kozhikode Beach, KSRTC bus stand complex, Hilite Mall,
Chaliyam harbour, Administrative block of NIT Calicut, IIM Kozhikode, Calicut Mini Bypass, and Thamarassery Churam.
Map
Kozhikode district
Location in Kerala
Coordinates: 11°15′N 75°46′E / 11.25°N 75.77°E / 11.25; 75.77
CountryIndia
StateKerala
HeadquartersKozhikode
Government
 • CollectorSnehil Kumar Singh[1]
 • District Panchayat PresidentSheeja Sasi CPI (M)[2]
 • Members of Parliament

]]

Area
 • Total2,344 km2 (905 sq mi)
 • Rank9th
Highest elevation
(Vavul Mala)
2,339 m (7,674 ft)
Population
 (2018)[3]
 • Total3,249,761
 • Density1,386/km2 (3,590/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialMalayalam, English
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
ISO 3166 codeIN-KL
Vehicle registrationKL-11 Calicut City,
KL-18 Vatakara,
KL-56 Koyilandy,
KL-57 Koduvally,
KL-76 Nanmanda,
KL-77 Perambra,
KL-85 Ramanattukara (Feroke)
HDI (2005)Increase 0.781[4] ( High)
Websitekozhikode.nic.in

Kozhikode (pronounced [koːɻikːoːɖɨ̆] ⓘ), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised.[5]

The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has a corporation limit population of 609,224[6] and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making Kozhikode metropolitan area the second-largest in Kerala and the 19th largest in India.[7] Kozhikode is classified as a Tier 2 city by the Government of India.[8] NIT Calicut, NIEIT and IIM Kozhikode are institutions of national importance located in the district.

Kozhikode is the largest city in the erstwhile Malabar District and acted as its headquarters during British Raj.[9] In antiquity and the medieval period, Kozhikode was dubbed the City of Spices for its role as the major trading point for Indian spices.[10] It was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins), which was also the largest kingdom in Kerala prior to the expansion of Travancore in the mid-18th century CE.[9] The port at Kozhikode acted as the gateway to medieval South Indian coast for the Chinese, the Arabs, the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the British.[9]

Kozhikode district is bordered by the districts of Kannur and Mahé (Puducherry) to the north, Wayanad to the east, and Malappuram to the south. The Arabian Sea lies to the west and the Western Ghats mountain range stretches towards the east. Vavul Mala, a 2,339 m high peak situated on the trijunction of Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Wayanad districts, is the highest point of elevation in the district. It lies between latitudes 11° 08'N and 11° 50'N and longitudes 75° 30'E and 76° 8'E. The Thamarassery Churam connects the city of Kozhikode with the plateau of Wayanad.[9]

The district is divided into four taluks: Kozhikode, Vatakara, Koyilandy and Thamarassery. By the 2011 census there are 12 block panchayats: Balusseri, Chelannur, Koduvally, Kozhikode, Kunnamangalam, Kunnummal, Melady, Panthalayani, Perambra, Thodannur, Thuneri and Vatakara.[11] The Multidimensional Poverty Index report prepared by NITI Aayog based on the National Family Health Survey 2015–16 declared Kozhikode as the third-least poor district in India, only after to Kottayam and Ernakulam, with a negligible multidimensional poverty rate of 0.26%.[12]

  1. ^ "Who's Who". District Kozhikode. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. ^ "District Panchayath Kozhikode". kozhikodejillapanchayath.in. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. ^ Annual Vital Statistics Report – 2018 (PDF). Thiruvananthapuram: Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Kerala. 2020. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Kerala | UNDP in India". UNDP.
  5. ^ Govind, Biju (18 April 2018). "Kozhikode emerges fastest growing urban district". The Hindu. Kozhikode. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census2011cities was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 million and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2011.
  8. ^ "Tier I and Tier II Cities of India, Classification of Indian Cities". Mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Sreedhara Menon, A. (January 2007). Kerala Charitram (in Malayalam) (2007 ed.). Kottayam: DC Books. ISBN 9788126415885. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Lectures 26–27". 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Reports of National Panchayat Directory: Block Panchayats of Kozhikode, Kerala". Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  12. ^ News Bureau, ABP (27 November 2021). "Kottayam Only District With Zero Poverty: NITI Aayog's Poverty Index Report". ABP News. Chennai. Retrieved 22 June 2022.