Highlands, midlands and low lands: how the Kerala Legislature's profile divides the State

Background

The Kerala Legislature's profile puts the State's area at 38,863 Sq.Kms, which is 1.18 percent of the total area of India, curving along the Arabian Sea on the Southwest Coast. It divides Kerala into three geographical regions: the highlands, midlands and the low lands. The highlands or eastern region is dominated by the Sahya Mountains or the Western Ghats, with dense tropical evergreen forests and misty peaks; Anamudi is the highest peak and Agasthyarkoodam the second highest, and Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Oil Seeds and Sandalwood are extensively cultivated in the mountainous areas. The midlands have undulating hills and valleys growing coconut, arecanut, banana, mango, tapioca, pepper, ginger etc., while the sandy coastal low lands carry coconut groves, paddy fields, river deltas, backwaters and the sea. Kerala has 44 rivers, 41 west flowing and three east flowing, and there are 34 big and not so big backwaters in the state, the biggest being the vembanad lake, about 200 square kilometres in area. The land derived its name from "Keram", the coconut palm. The Legislature's profile also records that the State is divided into 14 districts, subdivided for revenue purposes into 63 taluks and 1453 revenue villages, that the hilly Idukki District is the largest in size while the coastal district of Alappuzha is the smallest, and that Wayanad is the least populated district in the state.