Kerala's fourteen districts are distributed among Kerala's three historical regions: Travancore (southern Kerala), Kochi (central Kerala), and Malabar (northern Kerala).Travancore consists of Idukki, Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam (Quilon), and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Kochi includes Thrissur (Trichur) and Ernakulam districts. Malabar includes (from north to south) Kasargod, Kannur (Cannanore), Wayanad (Wynad), Kozhikode (Calicut), Malappuram, and Palakkad (Palghat).
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.
