Kerala
State in southwestern India
Kerala, officially Keralam, is a state on the Malabar Coast of southern India. It was formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which unified the country's Malayalam-speaking regions into a single state. Covering 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is primarily a strip of coastal plains sandwiched by the Western Ghats and the Laccadive Sea, bound by Karnataka to the northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east, and the Lakshadweep islands in the western vicinity. With 33 million inhabitants according to the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-most populous state in India. Thiruvananthapuram is the capital city while the Kochi metropolitan area is the state's most populated region. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and, alongside English, serves as an official language of the state.
The public source identifies “Kerala” as state in southwestern India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kerala, State and southwestern.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Kerala”, the useful work is to connect “state in southwestern India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1956 and 2011.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kerala”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kerala primary sources, Kerala archive and Kerala research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kerala”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kerala” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.