The Indian state of Kerala borders with the states of Tamil Nadu on the south and

east, Karnataka on the north and theArabian Sea coastline on the west. The Western Ghats,
bordering the eastern boundary of the State, form an almost continuous mountain wall, except
near Palakkad where there is a natural mountain pass known as the Palakkad Gap.[1] When the
independent India amalgamated small states together Travancore and Cochin states were integrated
to form Travancore-Cochin state on 1 July 1949. However, Malabar remained under the Madras
province. The States Reorganisation Act of 1 November 1956 elevated Kerala to statehood. [2]
The state of Kerala is divided into 14 revenue districts. On the basis of geographical, historical and
cultural similarities, the districts are generally grouped into three parts. The North Kerala districts
of Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode,Palakkad and Malappuram; the Kochi region, Central
Kerala districts of Thrissur, and Ernakulam; and Travancore, South Kerala districts
of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, and Idukki.[3] Such a regional
division occurred being part of historical Kingdoms of Kochi, Travancore and British Province of
Malabar. The Travancore region is again divided into 3 zones as Northern Travancore (Hill
Range) (Idukki and parts of Ernakulam), Central Travancore(Central
Range) (Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam) and Southern Travancore (South Range)
(Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam). Almost all of the districts in Kerala have the same name as the
important town or city in the district, the exception being Idukki district, Wayanad district& Ernakulam
district. The 14 districts are further divided into 62 taluks, 999 revenue villages and 1007 Gram
panchayats. Some of the districts and their towns were renamed in 1990
likeThiruvananthapuram (formerly known
as Trivandrum), Kollam (Quilon or Venad), Alappuzha (Alleppey),[4][5] Thrissur (Trichur or Thirushivape
rur), Palakkad (Palghat), Kozhikode(Calicut) and Kannur (Cannanore).