Orbitz

Orbitzgames.com was launched in September 2005 as a showcase of all the promotional orbitz games produced to date. Inroads have also been made by television (especially "mega serials" and cartoons) and the Internet.^[53] Yet Keralites also have high rates of newspaper subscription — 50%^[54] — spend some seven hours per week reading novels and other books,^[53] host a thriving "people's science" movement, and participate in such activities as writer's cooperatives.^[45]. Claiming that, because Orbitz had violated their own contractual agreements, some readers - whose emails are also posted on that article - vowed never to use Orbitz. These are viewed by Keralites at dozens of stadiums across the state, including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi and Chandrashekaran Nair Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Additionally, Maddox readers were further alienated due to this exchange, since Orbitz had shared information with other parties regarding an unsettled customer dispute. In modern times, attention to these activities has been largely supplanted by more modern sports such as cricket, kabaddi, soccer, badminton, and others. This is assuming there are no further airline or traffic delays.". Other popular ritual arts include theyyam and poorakkali.

Ouzonian's response to Orbitz's reply: "Hey, good point Orbitz, except that having 3 hours and 6 minutes to "connect to the other airport" is misleading because I don't need to simply "connect," I need to check in at least 2 hours before my flight...not to mention the time it would take to locate and walk to my terminal, check in my luggage, and stand in line. Kalarippayattu (kalari ("place", "threshing floor", or "battlefield") and payattu ("exercise" or "practice")) is attributed by oral tradition to Parasurama and is among the world's oldest martial arts. [This happened] in May of 2002 [and all sales] meet airline requirements for appropriate "minimum connection times"...there are significant inaccuracies in the information he provides...His flight was actually scheduled to depart at 12:45 pm so he had a total of 3 hours and 6 minutes to connect to the other airport, as opposed to the 2 hours and 21 minutes he claimed. Several martial arts are also native in origin. The readers forwarded those emails to Maddox, who posted it on his site:. Kerala's cuisine — pachakam — is typically served as a sadhya on green banana leaves; such spicy dishes as idli, payasam, pulisherry, puttucuddla, and puzhukku, rasam, and sambar are typical. Orbitz responded to the many thousands of emails that Maddox readers sent to them. Kerala has its own Malayalam calendar — this used for timing agricultural and religious activities.

This story was read by over a hundred thousand people within less than a week, and instigated a boycott against the company by many of these readers. The popular music of Kerala — as in the rest of India — is dominated by the filmi music of Indian cinema. Maddox, recounted a less than satisfactory experience with Orbitz in which he was given an impossible itinerary which could not physically be fulfilled, and was not given a refund. Kerala also has various styles of folk and tribal music. The author, George Ouzounian a.k.a. Panchavadyam is a different form of percussion ensemble where up to one hundred artists use five types of percussion instruments. In March, 2005, Orbitz.com received email complaints numbering in the thousands from readers of a website called The Best Page in the Universe. Up to 150 musicians may comprise Melam ensembles, and performances may last up to four hours.

Given Cendant's spate of acquisitions in Europe, there has been some speculation about Orbitz being exported to Europe as a brand or the continued use of acquired Cendant brands like ebookers and Octopus Travel. Melam (including the paandi and panchari variants), is a more percussive style of music; it is performed at temple-centered festivals using the chenda. On September 29, 2004 Orbitz was acquired for $1.2 billion by New York-based Cendant Corporation. South India's carnatic tradition dominates Keralite classical music; this was the result of Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma's popularization of the genre in the 19th century.^[51][52] Additionally, raga-based renditions known as sopanam accompany kathakali performances. Additionally, changes in the marketplace had eroded both the advantages of the Most Favored Nation clause and the initial technological superiority of the Orbitz engine. Kerala's music also has ancient roots. Orbitz's rapid growth had leveled off, its online competitors' businesses had continued to grow apace, and no evidence was found of price fixing. Later, such contemporary writers as Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy (whose 1996 semi-autobiographical bestseller The God of Small Things is set in the Kottayam town of Ayemenem) have garnered international recognition.

In July 2003, the Department of Justice ruled that Orbitz was not a cartel and did not pose a threat to competition. Parameswara Iyer) are recognized for moving Keralite poetry away from archaic sophistry and metaphysics and towards a more lyrical mode. In July, it withdrew its fares from Orbitz altogether. The "triumvirate of poets" (Kavithrayam: Kumaran Asan, Vallathol Narayana Menon, and Ulloor S. Southwest, which had opposed the project from the outset, claimed Orbitz misrepresented its prices and used its trademarks without permission. Malayalam literature is ancient in origin, and includes such figures as the 14th century Niranam poets (Madhava Panikkar, Sankara Panikkar and Rama Panikkar), whose works mark the dawn of both modern Malayalam language and indigenous Keralite poetry. Separately, Southwest Airlines filed a lawsuit against Orbitz for trademark infringement and false advertising in May 2001. The men wear a lose piece of cloth around their waist called mundu, while the women wear a golden bordered strip of cloth called saree.

Partly in response, Orbitz announced in May 2002 it would make its fares available to travel agents offline. The clothing of malayali people are variations of the unstiched drape for both men and women. The Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA), an organization of Internet travel agencies, issued a report in December 2001 arguing that Orbitz was stifling its members. Additionally, Malayalam cinema has provided Keralites an alternative to both Bollywood and Hollywood. Among the concerns raised were these:. These people look to more contemporary art and performance styles, including those employing mimicry and parody. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. However, many of these artforms largely play to tourists or at youth festivals, and are not as popular among most ordinary Keralites.

When the DOT permitted the company to move ahead in April 2001, the effort was switched to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Native to Malabar, oppana combines dance, rhythmic hand clapping, and ishal vocalizations. Several consumer organizations lobbied the United States Department of Transportation to block the project from the outset, and some 23 state attorneys general also voiced concerns. These include oppana, popular among Keralite Muslims. Even before the site began operating, however, the company faced intense antitrust scrutiny— after all, five of the six oligopolist "major" airlines, controlling 80 percent of the US air travel market, were collaborating. Other arts are more religion- and tribal-themed. Beta testing began early the next year, and Orbitz.com officially launched in June 2001. Later, Kerala's culture was elaborated upon by centuries of contact with overseas lands.^[50] Native performing arts include koodiyattom, kathakali (from katha ("story") and kali ("performance")) and its offshoot Kerala natanam, koothu (akin to stand-up comedy), mohiniaattam ("dance of the enchantress"), thullal, padayani, and theyyam.

It was code-named T2— some claimed, meaning "Travelocity Terminator"— but adopted the name Orbitz when it commenced corporate operations in February 2000. Kerala's culture is mainly Dravidian in origin, deriving from a greater Tamil culture region known as Thamizhagom. Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and United Airlines, subsequently joined by American Airlines, invested a combined $145 million to start the project in November 1999. Indeed, a steadily aging population — 11.2% of Keralites are over age 60^[23] — and low birthrate^[37] makes Kerala (together with Cuba) one of the few regions of the Third World to have undergone the "demographic transition" characteristic of such developed nations as Canada, Japan, and Norway.^[24]. Orbitz constituted the airline industry's response to the rise of online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity and trailed its major competitors by several years. These propagate via gurukula discipleship.^[48] They comprise a fusion of both medicinal and supernatural treatments,^[49] and are partly responsible for drawing increasing numbers of medical tourists. . Aside from ayurveda (both elite and popular forms),^[46] siddha, and unani, many endangered and endemic modes of traditional medicine — including kalari, marmachikitsa,^[47] and vishavaidyam — are practiced.

As such, it searches the entire inventory of available prices simultaneously, rather than retrieving a representative subset. Kerala's above-unity female-to-male ratio — 1.058 — also distinguishes it from the rest of India.^[41][45] The same is true of its sub-replacement fertility level and infant mortality rate of 12 per 1000 births.^[20] Indeed, the state's healthcare system has garnered international acclaim, with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) designating Kerala the world's first "baby-friendly state". Orbitz differs from competitors in that it neither consolidates inventory (such as Priceline.com) nor provides a gateway to a so-called global distribution system (GDS) (such as Travelocity), but directly searches for inventory in and retrieves information for bookings from the computer reservation systems (CRSs) or inventory management systems of travel suppliers such as airlines. This is the result of efforts begun before 1911 by Cochin and Travancore states to boost social welfare.^[42][43] This focus was maintained by Kerala's post-independence government.^[44][23][25] However, Kerala's unemployment and suicide rates are unusually high by Indian standards. Katz, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, has led the company since July 2000; he had previously served as President and CEO of Swissair. For example, Kerala's literacy rate — 91%^[41] — and life expectancy — 73 years^[41] — are now the highest in India. It was traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol "ORBZ." Jeffrey G. Kerala's social development indices — elimination of poverty, primary-level education, and healthcare — are among the best in India.

Its flagship site, Orbitz.com, utilizes the QPX search ITA Software and a proprietary booking system originally called "Direct Connect", and now know as "Supplier Link", given the name "Orbot." Orbitz also operates portals for business purchasers of travel and travel vendors, and is a partner of "opaque" booking site Hotwire.com. However, Christians, Muslims, and some Hindu castes such as the Namboothiri and Ezhava follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system.^[39] Kerala's gender relations are among the most equitable in India and the Third World.^[40] However, this too is coming under threat, this time from such forces as patriarchy-enforced effeminization of women, global capitalism, modernization, and "Sanskritization" (the subaltern poor's emulation of higher castes).^[38]. is an Internet travel company based in Chicago, since 2004 a part of the Cendant Corporation. Nevertheless, there have been signs of increasing influences from religious extremist organisations.^[35][36] Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World.^[37][38] Many Keralites — especially the Nair caste — follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam. Orbitz, Inc. In comparison with the rest of India, Kerala experiences relatively little sectarianism. Cendant. Kerala's people are most densely settled in the coastal region, leaving the eastern hills and mountains comparatively sparsely populated.^[7] Kerala's principal religions are Hinduism (56.1%), Islam (24.7%), and Christianity (19%),^[34] as well as remnants of a once substantial Cochin Jewish population — most of which made aliyah to Israel or emigrated to other First World nations.

drops investigation into Orbitz. Whereas Kerala's population more than doubled between 1951 and 1991 — adding 156 lakh (15.6 million) people to reach a total of 291 lakh (29.1 million) residents in 1991 — the population stood at less than 320 lakh (32 million) by 2001. MSNBC: U.S. However, Kerala's population growth rate is far lower than the national average. Information Week: Cendant Buys Orbitz For $1.2 Billion. Kerala is home to 3.44% of India's people, and — at 819 persons per km²^[33] — its land is three times as densely settled as the rest of India. technical problems on Orbitz.com were misrepresenting the true costs of tickets to customers. Kerala is also home to 321,000 indigenous tribal Adivasis (1.10% of the populace), who are mostly concentrated in the eastern districts.^[31][32] Malayalam is Kerala's official language; Tamil and various Adivasi languages are also spoken by ethnic minorities.

that the airlines would coordinate efforts secretly to reduce discounts. Other than Dravidians, thousands of Arabs, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch, and British have settled in Kerala. that Computer Reservation System fee discounts extended to partner airlines would undermine competitors and damage the fledgling online travel industry. Virtually all of Kerala's 3.18 crore (31.8 million)^[30] people are of Malayali Dravidian ethnicity. the airlines' agreement to release certain discount fares only to Orbitz, at the expense of its online and offline competitors. Kerala's unemployment rate is 19.2%,^[27] althought underemployment of those classified as "employed" is a significant problem.^[28][29]. above all, the so-called Most Favored Nation provision, by which the airlines agreed not to cut deals with competing sites under more favorable terms than with Orbitz. Tourism, manufacturing, and business process outsourcing comprise other significant economic sectors.

Home gardens and animal husbandry also provide work for hundreds of thousands of people. Some six hundred varieties^[6] of rice are harvested from 310,521 ha of paddy fields; 688,859 tonnes are produced per annum.^[26] Other key crops include coconut (899,198 ha), tea, coffee, rubber, cashew, and spices — including pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Agriculture dominates Kerala's economy. However, Kerala's Human Development Index and standard of living statistics are the nation's best.^[23] This seeming paradox is often dubbed the "Kerala phenomenon" or the "Kerala model" of development,^[24][25] and arises mainly from Kerala's unusually strong service sector.

This has resulted in slow economic progress compared to neighbouring states, and relatively few major corporations and manufacturing plants choose to operate in Kerala.^[20] This is mitigated by the remittances of overseas Keralites contributing 20% of State Domestic Product (SDP) .^[21] Kerala's economic productivity and per capita GDP — 11,819 INR^[22] — lags behind that of the rest of India. Kerala has a democratic socialist welfare economy. Keralites, when compared to most other Indians, participate highly in the political arena. Nevertheless, Kerala numbers among India’s most left-wing states.

At present, the UDF is the ruling party and Oommen Chandy is the current Chief Minister. Kerala hosts two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front (UDF — led by the Indian National Congress) and the Left Democratic Front (led by the — Communist Party of India (Marxist)). In addition, auxilliary authorities — panchayats, for which elections are regularly held — govern local affairs. In turn, the Council of Ministers answers to the Legislative Assembly.

Lastly, the executive authority — composed of the Governor of Kerala (the de jure head of state and appointed by the President of India), the Chief Minister of Kerala (the de facto head of state; the Legislative Assembly's majority party leader is appointed to this position by the Governor), and the Council of Ministers (appointed by the Governor, with input from the Chief Minister). The judiciary is composed of an apex High Court of Kerala (including a Chief Justice combined with twenty-six permanent and two additional (pro tempore) justices) and a system of lower courts. In turn, Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker (or the Deputy Speaker, if the Speaker is absent). The legislature — the Legislative Assembly — is composed of elected members as well as special offices (the Speaker and Deputy Speaker) elected by assemblymen.

There are three branches of government. Like other Indian states, Kerala is governed via a parliamentary system of representative democracy with universal suffrage granted to residents. In lakes, wetlands, and waterways, fish such as kadu (stinging catfish — Heteropneustes fossilis)^[18] and choottachi (orange chromide — Etroplus maculatus; valued as an aquarium specimen) can be found.^[19]. Kerala's birds are legion — Peafowl, the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis), Indian Grey Hornbill, Indian Cormorant, and Jungle Myna are several emblematic species.

Other flora includes bamboo, wild black pepper (Piper nigrum), wild cardamom, the calamus rattan palm (Calamus rotang — a type of giant grass), and aromatic vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides).^[16] Among them, such fauna as Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius), Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), and Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Protoxerus stangeri).^[16][17] Reptiles include the king cobra, viper, python, and crocodile. Here, sonokeling (binomial nomenclature: Dalbergia latifolia — Indian rosewood), anjili (Artocarpus hirsuta), mullumurikku (Erthrina), and caussia number among the more than 1,000 species of trees in Kerala. Eastern Kerala’s windward mountains shelter tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests, which are common in the Western Ghats. These forests are protected by a decades-old blanket ban on clearfelling.

Altogether, 24% of Kerala is forested.^[16] Two of the world’s Ramsar Convention-listed wetlands — Lake Sasthamkotta and the Vembanad-Kol wetlands — are also in Kerala, as well as 1455.4 km² of the vast Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Its 9,400 km² of forests include tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests (lower and middle elevations — 3,470 km²), tropical moist and dry deciduous forests (mid-elevations — 4,100 km² and 100 km², respectively), and montane subtropical and temperate (shola) forests (highest elevations — 100 km²). Kerala harbours significant biodiversity,^[15] most of which is concentrated in the east. The city of Ernakulam (on Ernakulam district's coast) is the state's judicial capital.

Kochi is the largest city and considered the commercial capital of the state. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital. Mahe, a part of the union territory of Pondicherry, is an enclave within Kerala. Lastly, the Travancore region (southern Kerala) is composed of Idukki, Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam (Quilon), and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum).

Kochi (central Kerala) includes Thrissur (Trichur) and Ernakulam (Cochin) districts. Malabar (northern Kerala) includes (from north to south) Kasargod, Kannur (Cannanore), Wayanad (Wynad), Kozhikode (Calicut), Malappuram, and Palakkad (Palghat). The districts are distributed between Kerala's three historical regions: Malabar, Kochi, and Travancore. Fourteen districts comprise Kerala.

It is also prone to occassional droughts,^[11] as well as rises in sea level and cyclonic activity resulting from global warming.^[12][13] Kerala’s average maximum daily temperature is around 36.7 °C; the minumum is 19.8 °C.^[7] Mean annual temperatures range from between 25.0–27.5 °C in the coastal lowlands to between 20.0–22.5 °C in the highlands.^[14]. In summers, most of Kerala is prone to gale-force winds, storm surges, and torrential downpours accompanying dangerous cyclones coming in off the Indian Ocean. As a result, Kerala averages some 120–140 rainy days per year. Kerala's rains are mostly the result of seasonal monsoons.

Parts of Kerala's lowlands may average only 1,250 mm annually while the cool mountainous eastern highlands of Idukki district — comprising Kerala's wettest region — receive in excess of 5,000 mm of orographic precipitation (4,200 mm of which are available for human use) annually. This compares to the all-India average of 1,197 mm. Kerala receives an average annual rainfall of 3,107 mm — some 70.3 km³ of water. In eastern Kerala, a drier tropical wet and dry climate prevails.

Kerala's climate is mainly wet and maritime tropical,^[10] heavily influenced by the seasonal heavy rains brought by the Southwest Summer Monsoon. Most of the remainder are small and entirely fed by monsoon rains.^[7] These conditions result in the nearly year-round waterlogging of such western regions as Kuttanad, 500 km² of which lie below sea level. Indeed, around 8% of India's waterways (measured by length) are found in Kerala.^[9] The most important of Kerala’s forty-four rivers include the Periyar (244 km in length), the Bharathapuzha (209 km), the Pamba (176 km), the Chaliyar (169 km), the Kadalundipuzha (130 km), and the Achankovil (128 km). Lake Vembanad — Kerala’s largest body of water — dominates the Backwaters; it lies between Alappuzha and Kochi and is over 200 km² in area.

Kerala’s western coastal belt is relatively flat, and is crisscrossed by a network of interconnected brackish canals, lakes, estuaries, and rivers known as the Kerala Backwaters. Here, rolling hills and valleys dominate.^[7] Generally ranging between elevations of 250–1,000 m, the eastern portions of the Nilgiri and Palni Hills include such formations as Agastyamalai and Anamalai. Just west of the mountains lie the midland plains, comprising a swathe of land running along central Kerala. The Western Ghats rises on average to 1,500 m elevation above sea level, while the highest peaks may reach to 2,500 m.

Here, the Western Ghats form a wall of mountains interrupted only near Palakkad; here, a pass known as the Palakkad Gap breaks through to access the rest of India. Forty-one of Kerala’s west-flowing rivers — as well as three of its east-flowing ones — originate in this region. Eastern Kerala lies immediately west of the Western Ghats's rain shadow; it consists of high mountains, gorges, and deep-cut valleys. Located at the extreme southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, Kerala lies near the center of the Indian tectonic plate; as such most of the state (notwithstanding isolated regions) is subject to comparatively little seismic or volcanic activity.^[8] Geologically, pre-Cambrian and Pleistocene formations comprise the bulk of Kerala’s terrain.

These include the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the western lowlands (coastal plains). Geographically, Kerala roughly divides into three climatically distinct regions. Kerala’s coast runs some 580 km in length, while the state itself varies between 35–120 km in width. Situated between north latitudes 8°18' and 12°48' and east longitudes 74°52' and 72°22',^[7] Kerala lies well within the humid tropics, near the equator.

Kerala’s 38,863 km² (1.18% of India’s landmass) are wedged between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Western Ghats — identified as one of the world's twenty-five biodiversity hotspots^[6] — to the east. Subsequent radical reforms introduced by the Namboodiripad government favoured tenants and labourers — this facilitated, among other things, improvements in living standards, education, and life expectancies. Namboodiripad. These resulted in a communist-led government^[4] — one of the world's first^[5] — headed by E.M.S.

Finally, the Government of India's 1956-11-01 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated a new state — Kerala — incorporating Malabar District, Travancore-Cochin, and the taluk of Kasargod, South Kanara.^[4] A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957. In the same time, the Madras Presidency became Madras State in 1947. After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Kochi were merged to form the province of Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949 — on 1950-01-26 (the date India became a republic), Travancore-Cochin was recognized as a state. Due to this pressure, outcastes were allowed admittance to temples across Kerala.

Kerala saw little mass defiance against the Raj — nevertheless, several rebellions occurred, including the October 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar revolt.^[3] Many mass actions instead protested such social mores as untouchability; these included the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraham. Meanwhile, Malabar and South Kanara became part of the Madras Presidency. The Raj then forged tributary alliances with Kochi (1791) and Travancore (1795). However, Tipu Sultan was ultimately forced to cede Malabar District and South Kanara, (including today’s Kasargod District) to the Raj in 1792 and 1799, respectively.

Ali’s successor, Tipu Sultan, launched in the late 18th century numerous campaigns against the growing British Raj, resulting in two of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. Meanwhile, Mysore’s Hyder Ali conquered northern Kerala, capturing Kozhikode in 1766. In turn, the Dutch were ousted at the 1741 Battle of Kulachal by Marthanda Varma of Thiruvithamcoore (Travancore), who received aid from the British. Later conflicts between the cities of Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin), however, provided an opportunity for the Dutch oust the Portuguese.

While seeking to convert Nasranis to Roman Catholicism, they also established fortresses and settlements, thereby ending an Arab trade monopoly. More than 1,100 years later, Vasco da Gama’s 1498-05-20 arrival inaugurated a period of Portuguese colonial administration, with the goal of controlling a lucrative spice trade. Later, in 345 CE, Kerala’s Nasrani community was founded by Jewish Christian settlers under a Jewish merchant Knai Thomman. Later arrivals included Muslim Arab merchants in the 8th century, while a disputed theory has Christianity arriving with Apostle Thomas in 52 CE.

In subsequent centuries, settlers from abroad established Kerala's Jewish community. Later, figures such as Katyayana, Patanjali, Pliny the Elder, and the unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea all displayed familiarity with Kerala. In written records, Kerala was first mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Aitareya Aranyaka. A Keralite identity, distinct from the Tamils and associated with the second Chera empire and the development of Malayalam, evolved during the 8th–14th centuries.

Allied with the Pallavas, they continually warred against the neighboring Chola and Pandya kingdoms. The ancient Chera empire, whose court language was Tamil, ruled Kerala from their capital at Vanchi and was the first major recorded kingdom. Later, Kerala became a linguistically separate region by the early 14th century. These were produced by speakers of a proto-Tamil language.^[1] Thus, Kerala and Tamil Nadu once shared a common language, ethnicity, and culture.

Legend states that Kerala was created by an act of Parasurama, an avatar of Mahavishnu.^[1][2] Meanwhile, historians note the 10th century BCE emergence of prehistoric pottery and granite burial monuments — which resemble their counterparts in Western Europe and the rest of Asia. . Another theory has the name originating from the phrase chera alam ("land of the Chera"). Natives of Kerala — "Keralites" — thus refer to their land as Keralam.

Accounts of the etymology underlying "Kerala" differ; according to the prevailing theory, it as an imperfect portmanteau that fuses kera ("coconut palm tree") and alam ("land" or "location"). More than a millennium of overseas contact and trade culminated in four centuries of struggle between and among multiple colonial powers and native Keralite states, a period whose end saw on January 11, 1956 the final formation of the modern-day state of Kerala. Subsequent contact with the Mauryan Empire spurred development of new Keralite polities, including the Cheran kingdom and feudal Namboothiri Brahminical city-states. Only then did tribes of megalith-building proto-Tamil speakers from northwestern India settle in Kerala.

Prehistoric Kerala's rainforests and wetlands, then thick with malaria-bearing mosquitoes and man-eating tigers, were largely avoided by Neolithic humans; indeed, no evidence of habitation prior to around 1,000 BCE exists. With a 73-year life expectancy and a 91% literacy rate, Kerala is also one of India's healthiest and best-educated states. With a population of around 3.18 crore (31.8 million) and 819 persons per km², Kerala is among India's most densely populated regions. Kerala also envelops Mahé, a coastal exclave of the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

Kerala borders Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to the east and northeast; to the west and south lie the Indian Ocean islands of Lakshadweep and the Maldives, respectively. Kerala (IPA: ['kɛrʌɹlʌ]; Malayalam: കേരളം — Keralam) is a state on the southwestern tropical Malabar Coast of India.