Demographics of Kerala

Virtually all of Kerala’s 3.18 crore (31.8 million)[30] people are of Malayali Dravidian ethnicity. Other than Dravidians, thousands of Arabs, Jews, Portuguese, Dutch, and British have settled in Kerala. Kerala is also home to 321,000 indigenous tribal Adivasis (1.10% of the populace), who are mostly concentrated in the eastern districts.

Malayalam is Kerala’s official language; Tamil and various Adivasi languages are also spoken by ethnic minorities. Kerala is home to 3.44% of India’s people, and - at 819 persons per km² - its land is three times as densely settled as the rest of India. However, Kerala’s population growth rate is far lower than the national average. 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. Kerala’s people are most densely settled in the coastal region, leaving the eastern hills and mountains comparatively sparsely populated.

Kerala’s principal religions are Hinduism (56.1%), Islam (24.7%), and Christianity (19%), 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. In comparison with the rest of India, Kerala experiences relatively little sectarianism. Nevertheless, there have been signs of increasing influences from religious extremist organisations.Kerala’s society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World.

Many Keralites - especially the Nair caste - follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam. However, Christians, Muslims, and some Hindu castes such as the Namboothiri and Ezhava follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system. Kerala’s gender relations are among the most equitable in India and the Third World. 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).

Kerala’s social development indices - elimination of poverty, primary-level education, and healthcare - are among the best in India. For example, Kerala’s literacy rate - 91% - and life expectancy - 73 years - are now the highest in India. 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. Kerala’s above-unity female-to-male ratio - 1.058 - also distinguishes it from the rest of India.

The same is true of its sub-replacement fertility level and infant mortality rate of 12 per 1000 births.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”. Aside from ayurveda (both elite and popular forms),[46] siddha, and unani, many endangered and endemic modes of traditional medicine - including kalari, marmachikitsa, and vishavaidyam - are practiced. These propagate via gurukula discipleship.[48] They comprise a fusion of both medicinal and supernatural treatments, and are partly responsible for drawing increasing numbers of medical tourists. Indeed, a steadily aging population - 11.2% of Keralites are over age 60 - and low birthrate 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.