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Kerala

American  
[key-ruh-luh, ker-uh-] / ˈkeɪ rə lə, ˈkɛr ə- /

noun

  1. a state in SW India: formerly the regions of Travancore and Cochin. 15,005 sq. mi. (38,836 sq. km). Thiruvananthapuram.


Kerala British  
/ kəˈrɑːlə, ˈkɛrələ /

noun

  1. a state of SW India, on the Arabian Sea: formed in 1956, it includes the former state of Travancore-Cochin; has the highest population density of any Indian state. Capital: Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). Pop: 31 838 619 (2001). Area: 38 863 sq km (15 005 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The five southern states - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana - account for about 20% of India's 1.4 billion people.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

"I didn't fall sick despite the weather, and I was adventurous enough to try the cuisine in Kerala."

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

Adani Ports recently opened a new container-handling terminal in Vizhinjam, in Kerala, India, powered by remote-operated and semi-automated equipment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

Yet, it notes, Tamil Nadu, with under 1% of the country's poor, received nearly 15% of the scheme's funds, while Kerala, with just 0.1% of the poor, accounted for almost 4% of federal allocations.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

Chacko’s hero, Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the flamboyant Brahmin high priest of Marxism in Kerala, became Chief Minister of the first ever democratically elected Communist government in the world.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy