Wayanad

Wayanad ; District വയനാട് ജില്ല
State	Kerala
Administrative headquarters :	Kalpetta
Area :	2,131 km²
Residents :	816,558 (2011)
Population density :	383 inhabitants / km²
Website :	wayanad.nic.in

Wayanad ( Malayalam : വയനാട് Vayanāṭ [ ˈʋajənaːɖ ], also Wynad , Wynaad ) is a district in the southern Indian state of Kerala . The administrative seat is the city of Kalpetta .

geography

Wayanad is located in the mountains of the Western Ghats in the interior of northern Kerala on the border with the neighboring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu . Neighboring districts are Kodagu in the north, Mysore in the northeast, Chamarajanagar in the east (all Karnataka), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) in the southeast as well as in Kerala Malappuram in the south, Kozhikode in the southwest and Kannur in the northwest. The Wayanad district is divided into the three taluks Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery and Vythiri.

Chembra Mountain is the highest point of Wayanad

The Wayanad District has an area of 2,131 square kilometers and is at an altitude of between 700 and 2100 meters. In the west rises the mountain range of the Western Ghats, which demarcate the narrow coastal strip on the Malabar coast from the highlands of the Dekkan . The highest peaks are the Chembra (2100 m), Banasura (2073 m) and Brahmagiri (1608 m). Most of the district area lies beyond the main ridge of the Western Ghats on a 700-800 meter high plateau. Topographically, Wayanad is more likely to be assigned to neighboring southern Carnataka than to the rest of Kerala. Almost the entire district is drained by the Kabini , a tributary of the Kaveri , as well as by its tributaries Panamaram , Mananthavady and Kalindy .

Due to the altitude, the climate in Wayanad is more moderate than in the coastal regions of Kerala. The maximum temperatures are around 29 ° C, the minimum temperatures around 18 ° C. The mountain areas in the west receive enormous amounts of rain of 3000 to 4000 millimeters annually during the southwest monsoon between June and September. The plateau in the east, on the other hand, is in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats. There the total annual precipitation is only 300 millimeters.

history

Wayanad has been inhabited by humans for over 3000 years. The area was first under the rule of local rulers, then the Pazhassi Rajas from the Malabar coast. In the 18th century, Hyder Ali , the ruler of Mysore , conquered Wayanad. After Tipu Sultan , the son and successor of Hyder Ali, was defeated in the Mysore Wars against the British , Wayanad came to British India in 1799 . The area was part of the district Malabar in the Madras Presidency incorporated.

After Indian independence, the State of Kerala was formed in 1956 as part of the States Reorganization Act according to the language borders of Malayalam from the Malabar district and the Travancore-Cochin Federation . The current district area was divided between the districts of Kannur and Kozhikode . In 1980 the independent Wayanad District was formed.

population

Due to its location in the mountains, the Wayanad district is less populated than the rest of Kerala. According to the 2011 census, the district has 816,558 inhabitants. This makes it the smallest district in the state. The population density of 383 inhabitants per square kilometer is well below the average of Kerala (859 inhabitants per square kilometer). The only city is the district capital Kalpetta . The urban population makes up only 3.9 percent, while the state average is 47.7 percent. Between 2001 and 2011, the population grew by 4.6 percent and thus at about the same rate as the average in Kerala (4.9 percent). The literacy rate is below average for Kerala at 89.3 percent, but is still well above the overall Indian average.

In Wayanad there is a significant minority of Adivasi (members of the indigenous tribal population). The 2001 census classified 17.4 percent of the district's population as scheduled tribes . Wayanad thus has the highest proportion of the Adivasi population in Kerala. In religious terms, the district is mixed: According to the 2001 census, 50.2 percent of the population are Hindus , 26.9 percent Muslim and 22.5 percent Christian .

Economy and Infrastructure

Tea plantations in Wayanad

Wayanad's main industry is agriculture. According to the 2001 census, 47.3 percent of the district's population is employed in the agricultural sector. Products that thrive at high altitudes are grown, primarily coffee , tea , pepper , cardamom and rubber . Rice and coconut trees are cultivated in the lower elevations . Due to the high dependency of the population on the economic income of agriculture, the district is easily vulnerable to an agricultural crisis. Between 1997 and 2005, more than 150,000 farmers in India committed suicide, nearly 8 percent of them from Kerala, 90 percent of them in Wayanad. The main reasons for the suicides were the falling prices of locally grown crops such as coffee. Thereupon the state government decided to support the two districts Wayanad and Palakkad financially. Since 2005, the number of suicides has decreased.

National Highway 212 (NH212), which runs from Kozhikode to Mysore , runs right through Wayanad District. Other main roads lead to Tamil Nadu and the neighboring districts of Kerala. The nearest train station is in Kozhikode, 75 kilometers from Kalpetta. The nearest airport is Calicut International Airport in Karipur (80 kilometers).