Subdivisions

Kerala's fourteen districts are distributed among Kerala's six historical regions: North Malabar (Far-north Kerala), Malabar (northern Kerala), Kochi (central Kerala), Northern Travancore, Central Travancore (southern Kerala) and Southern Travancore (Far-south Kerala). Kerala's modern-day districts (listed in order from north to south) correspond to them as follows:

• North Malabar: Kasaragod, Kannur, Mananthavady Taluk of Wayanad, Koyilandy and Vadakara Taluks of Kozhikode
• Malabar: Wayanad except Mananthavady Taluk, Kozhikode except Vadakara and Koyilandy Taluks, Malappuram, Palakkad District except Chittur Taluk and a part of Thrissur
• Kochi: A part of Ernakulam, Chittur Taluk of Palakkad, and a part of Thrissur.
• Northern Travancore: Part of Ernakulam, and Idukki.
• Central Travancore: Southern part of Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and northern part of Kollam.
• Southern Travancore: Southern part of Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram.

(traditionally, Nanchinad in Kanyakumary, which is part of Tamil Nadu now)

Kerala's 14 districts, which serve as the administrative regions for taxation purposes, are further subdivided into 63 taluks; these have fiscal and administrative powers over settlements within their borders, including maintenance of local land records.Taluks of kerala are further divided into 1453 revenue villages and 1007 Gram panchayats.

Mahé, a part of the Indian union territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry), is a coastal exclave surrounded by Kerala on all of its landward approaches.