Kerala is a state situated in the south-west of the country. As per census 2011, most of the people of the approximately thirty three million population in Kerala are Malayali (speak Malayalam language). Majority of the English and Malayalam speaking inhabitants of Kerala share their ancestors from Aryan and Dravidian communities who resided in Kerala. These people used to mix up well with locals and with other people. After coming in contact with places other than India for centuries together, there was a change in the ancestors originating in the region and as a result other ethnic groups like Arabs and Jews also decided to settle in this state and gave legacy to some of Muslims and Syrian Christians. Most of these immigrants got married to people who spoke Malayali. Kerala boasts of inhabitants from diverse backgrounds. The people of this place are very versatile, highly educated, and learned. They give a lot of importance to art, culture, literature, music and many more. Production of pepper and natural rubber constitute prominent output in the total national output.

Census in Kerala

Before India got Independence, Kerala joined with two other royal states Cochin and Travancore along with Madras to form a new state. To glean more information about Census of those times, one can refer to “Geographical and Statistical Memoir of the Survey of Travancore and Cochin States”. It was carried out by Conner and Lieutenants Ward from 1816 to 1820. Later on, since year 1836, census was carried out in Travancore and in Cochin during 1854. This proves that erstwhile rulers also tried to collect statistics about the sources and population of the state.

In 1875, in Travancore, the first modern census was conducted and after 1881, census started to take place after every ten years. This, in 1961, first census was taken in Kerala. Last census taken in Kerala was in the year 2011.

Population

Kerala constitutes 2.76% of population in India. It has a density of 859 people per square km which is three times more inhabited in comparison to remaining area of the country. However, rate of population growth in Kerala is far less than the average registered of the entire nation. In the time period 1951-1991, the population of Kerala doubled thereby adding approximately 15 million people and reaching a total of approximately twenty nine million inhabitants in 1991, by the year 2001, the population of this state stood lesser than thirty two million by 2001 and in 2011, approximately thirty three million. Residents of Kerala mostly inhabit the coastal regions, and mountain areas and eastern areas are relatively sparsely populated.

Religion

Kerala houses many prominent Hindu saints belonging to all castes. In Kerala, the principle religions followed are Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.

Social development

In the field of social development, this state ranks highest in the country such as elimination of poverty, health care, primary education, and many more indices. The reason behind these results are consistent efforts made by the former Travancore and Cochin states from 1911 in order to motivate people to take care of their health and gaining education among the natives of this state. The rate of literacy in Kerala is highest in India at about ninety one percent registered in the year 2001; and the rate of life expectancy has also been recorded as the country’s highest. However, the only drawback in this otherwise rosy picture is the high rate of suicide and unemployment in the state. According to 2001 census, this is India’s only state where there are more females than males and only state to have a lower replacement fertility. UNICEF and the WHO chose this state as the world's first state that is "baby-friendly" according to the initiative taken by the state for "Baby Friendly Hospital". The state has also made a name for Ayurveda, a conventional medicine system which has been drawing a mounting statistics pertaining to medical tourists.

Immigration

Kerela has migrants mainly from West Bengal and Bangladesh which constitute higher than three percent of the population. Migrants came here from states like Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, North East and the state of Orissa. The migrants mostly concentrate in Cochin, the central region of Kerala. In regions such as Perumbavoor, migrants are more than the locals.