Districts in Kerala
After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin 
were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949. On January 1, 1950 (Republic Day), Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state. Meanwhile, the Madras Presidency became Madras State in 1947. Finally, the Government of India's November 1, 1956 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated a new state—Kerala—incorporating Malabar District, Travancore-Cochin (excluding 4 southern Taluks which was merged with Tamil Nadu), and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara. A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957. These resulted in a communist-led government —one of the world's earliest — headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Subsequent social reforms favoured tenants and labourers. This facilitated, among other things, improvements in living standards, education, and life expectancies.
Kerala's fourteen districts are distributed among Kerala's three historical regions: Malabar (northern Kerala), Kochi (central Kerala), and Travancore (southern Kerala). Kerala's modern-day districts (listed in order from north to south) correspond to them as follows:
Malabar: (Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad)Kochi: (Thrissur, Ernakulam)
Travancore: (Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram)
Mahe, a part of the Indian union territory of Pondicherry, is a coastal exclave surrounded by Kerala on all of its landward approaches. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital and most populous city; Kochi (the most populous urban agglomeration) , Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kollam and Thrissur are the other major commercial centres of the state. The High Court of Kerala is situated at Ernakulam. Kerala's districts, which serve as the administrative regions used for taxation purposes, are further subdivided into a total of 63 taluks; these have fiscal and administrative powers over settlements within their borders, including maintenance of local land records.
