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Kerala is
a union state located
in the south western part of India.
With an Arabian
sea coastline
on the west, it is bordered on the north by
Karnataka and
by Tamil
Nadu on
the south and east. Major cities are Thiruvananthapuram (the
capital), Kochi and Kozhikode.
The principal spoken
language is Malayalam but
many other languages are also spoken.
Kerala is
mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata (800
BC) at several instances as a tribe, as a region and as a
kingdom. The first written mention of Kerala is seen in a
3rd-century-BC rock inscription by emperor Asoka
the Great, where it is mentioned as Keralaputra.
This region formed part of ancient Tamilakam and
was ruled by the Cheras.
They had extensive trade relations with the Greeks, Romans and Arabs.
In the 1st century AD Jewish immigrants
arrived, and it is believed that St.
Thomas the Apostle visited
Kerala in the same century
[1].
The Chera Kingdom and later the feudal Nair and Namboothiri Brahmin city-states
became major
powers in
the region. Early
contact with Europeans later gave way to struggles between
colonial and native interests. The States
Reorganisation Act of
1 November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood.
Late-19th-century social reforms by Cochin and Travancore were
expanded by post-independence
governments. Since then, the people
of Kerala continue
to rank among the healthiest, best educated, and most
gender-equitable in India. Basic
human development indices are on par with the developed
world, and the state is more environmentally
sustainable than Europe and North
America. A survey conducted in 2005 by Transparency
International ranked
Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country. The state
confronts comparatively high suicide, alcoholism,
and unemployment rates. |
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