PEOPLE OF KERALA

The 31.8 million of Kerala’s compound population is predominantly of Malayali Dravidian ethnicity, while the rest is mostly made up of Indo-Aryan, Jewish, and Arab elements in both culture and ancestry (both of which are usually mixed). 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; at 819 persons per km?, its land is three times as densely settled as the rest of India. Kerala's rate of population growth is India's lowest, and Kerala's decadal growth (9.42% in 2001) is less than half the all-India average of 21.34%.

Whereas Kerala's population more than doubled between 1951 and 1991 by adding 15.6 million people to reach 29.1 million residents in 1991, the population stood at less than 32 million by 2001. Kerala's coastal regions are the most densely settled, leaving the eastern hills and mountains comparatively sparsely populated.

Women compose 51.42% of the population Kerala's principal religions are Hinduism (56.1%), Islam (24.7%), and Christianity (19%). Remnants of a once substantial Cochin Jewish population also practice Judaism. In comparison with the rest of India, Kerala experiences relatively little sectarianism.

Kerala's society is less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World. Gender relations are among the most equitable in India and the Third World, despite discrepancies among low caste men and women. Certain Hindu communities (such as the Nairs), Travancore Ezhavas and the Muslims around Kannur used to follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkathayam, although this practice ended in the years after Indian independence. Other Muslims, Christians, and some Hindu castes such as the Namboothiris and the Ezhavas follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system.

Kerala's human development indices—elimination of poverty, primary level education, and health care—are among the best in India. Kerala has the second highest literacy rate (89.9%) among Indian states after Mizoram and life expectancy (73 years) is among the highest in India.

Literacy is 88% among females and 94% among males according to the 2001 census. Kerala's rural poverty rate fell from 69% (1970–1971) to 19% (1993–1994); the overall (urban and rural) rate fell 36% between the 1970s and 1980s. By 1999–2000, the rural and urban poverty rates dropped to 10.0% and 9.6% respectively.

These changes stem largely from efforts begun in the late 19th century by the kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore to boost social welfare. This focus was maintained by Kerala's post-independence government