State of India
Kerala
केरलKerala is a state of India. It covers about 37,700 km² (14,600 mi²), the 23rd largest of the 36 states and union territories in Natural Earth’s file for India, and about the same size as the Netherlands. About 33.4 million people live there (Wikidata, 2011).
50 km
- Kerala
- Netherlands
Facts
| Area, measured | 37,700 km²14,600 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 38,900 km²Wikidata · 2.9% above our measure |
| Share of India | 1.2%of the area of the 36 states and union territories |
| Rank by area | 23rd of 36states and union territories of India |
| Population | 33.4 millionWikidata, 2011 |
| Density | 886 people per km² |
| Capital | Thiruvananthapuram |
| Latitude range | 8°N to 13°N |
| Type | StateIN-KL |
What the numbers say about Kerala
- Kerala covers 1.2% of the area of India and ranks 13th of 36 by population, against 23rd by area.
- It would take 83.5 states and union territories the size of Kerala to cover India.
- The largest, Rajasthan, is 9.09× the size of Kerala; the smallest, Lakshadweep, is less than 0.1% of it.
- Closest in size within India: Jammu and Kashmir (42,600 km², 1.13×) and Haryana (43,900 km², 1.16×).
- Counted as a country, Kerala would be larger than 104 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 136th by area, between Bhutan (40,400 km²) and the Netherlands (37,100 km²).
- With 33.4 million people it would rank 45th of 238 by population.
- Kerala has 886 people per km², about the density of Mauritius, which has 628 per km².
- That makes Kerala the 9th most densely populated of the 36 states and union territories, 2.21× the average for India (400 per km²).
- Kerala lies at 10°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, Kerala stretches about 500 km north to south and 278 km east to west.
- Our measured 37,700 km² is 2.9% below Wikidata's official figure of 38,900 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaHainan1.11× · 33,800 km²PeopleChongqing1.04× · 32.1 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaMaryland1.48× · 25,500 km²PeopleTexas1.15× · 29.1 million (2020)
- GermanyAreaBaden-Württemberg1.04× · 36,100 km²PeopleNorth Rhine-Westphalia1.87× · 17.9 million (2022)
- FranceAreaCentre-Val de Loire0.96× · 39,400 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- ItalyAreaSicily (Italy)1.46× · 25,900 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- SpainAreaExtremadura90% · 42,100 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- BrazilAreaRio de Janeiro86% · 44,000 km²PeopleSão Paulo75% · 44.4 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNova Scotia68% · 55,100 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- AustraliaAreaTasmania (Australia)55% · 68,100 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- MexicoAreaYucatán0.98× · 38,400 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- ThailandAreaChiang Mai1.66× · 22,800 km²Peoplenone within 2×
Where Kerala sits in India
All 36 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Kerala
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2011. India’s units share the 2011 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12