Thiruvananthapuram,
the southern most district of Kerala State is situated between
north latitudes 8o 17’ and 8o 54’
and east longitudes 76o 41’ and 77o
17’. The southern most extremity, Kaliyikkavila, is only
54 kms away from Kanyakumari (Cape Comarin), the land’s
end of India. The district stretches 78 kms. along the
shores of the Arabian sea on the west, Kollam district lies
on the north with Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts
of Tamil Nadu on the east and the south respectively.
The
district can be divided into three geographical regions;
highlands, midlands and lowlands. Chirayinkeezhu and Thiruvananthapuram
taluks lie in the midland and lowland regions, while Nedumangad
taluk lies in midland and highland regions and Neyyattinkara
taluk stretches over all the three regions.
The
highland region on the east and north-east comprises of
the mountains of the Western Ghats and this area is ideal
for major cash crop plantations like rubber, tea, cardamom
and other spices. Timber trees like teak, veetty (rose wood),
etc are grown in this region.
The
midland region, lying between the Western Ghats and the
lowlands, is made up of small and tiny hills and valleys.
This is an area of intense agricultural activity. This region
is rich in produces like paddy, tapioca, spices and cashew.
The
lowland is comparatively narrow, comprising of rivers, deltas
and seashore. This area is densely covered with coconut
palms.
The
Ghats maintain an average elevation of 814 meters and Agastyakoodam,
the southern most peak in the Ghats, is 1869 meters above
sea level. It figures in the popular mythology connected
with Agastyamuni, the sage. Mookkunnimala near Thiruvananthapuram
(1074 meters) is an important health resort in the district.
CLIMATE
The
large forest reserves favourably affect the climate and
induce rain Cold weather is experienced in the mountain
ranges whereas lower down, the weather is bracing and in
the plains, it is generally hot.
Though
the mean maximum temperature is only around 900F,
it is oppressive in the moisture-laden atmosphere of the
plains. Humidity is high and rises to about 90 per cent
during the south-west monsoon.
The
average rainfall is around 150 cms per annum. It is significant
that the district gets rainfall both from the south-west
and the north-east monsoons. The south-west monsoon starts
by the end of May/beginning of June, and fades out by September,
while the north-east monsoon commences in October. Dry weather
sets in by the end of December. December, January and February
are the coolest months of the year, March, April and May
are generally hot.
During
the months of April and May, the mean daily maximum temperature
rises upto 35.20 celsius and during December-January,
it sometimes goes down to 18.00 Celsius.
