62 Facts About Kochi

Kochi city is part of the Greater Cochin region and is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India.

The current metropolitan limits of Kochi include the mainland Ernakulam, Fort Kochi, the suburbs of Edapally, Kalamassery, Aluva and Kakkanad to the northeast; Tripunithura to the southeast; and a group of islands closely scattered in the Vembanad Lake.

In October 2019, Kochi was ranked seventh in Lonely Planet's list of top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2020.

In July 2018, Kochi was ranked the topmost emerging future megacity in India by global professional services firm JLL.

Kochi is known as the financial, commercial and industrial capital of Kerala.

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Kochi is home for the International Pepper Exchange, Marine Products Export Development Authority, Coconut Development Board, companies like HMT, Apollo Tyres, FACT, IREL, Petronet LNG, Kochi Refineries, V-Guard and industrial parks like the Cochin Special Economic Zone, Smart City, Infopark and Kinfra Hi-Tech Park.

Kochi is home for the High Court of Kerala and Lakshadweep, Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Indian Maritime University, Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University and the Cochin University of Science and Technology, National Law School and National University of Advanced Legal Studies.

Kochi has been hosting India's first art biennale, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, since 2012, which attracts international artists and tourists.

Ancient travellers and tradesmen referred to Kochi, variously alluding to it as Cocym, Cochym, Cochin, and Kochi.

The origin of the name Kochi is thought to be the Malayalam word kochu azhi, meaning 'small lagoon'.

Muziris, a port somewhere north of Kochi, was the centre of Indian spice trade for many centuries, and was known to the Arabs, Yavanas (Greeks and Romans) as well as Jews, Syrians, and Chinese since ancient times.

Kochi rose to significance as a trading centre after the port Muziris around Kodungallur was destroyed by the massive flooding of Periyar in 1341.

The earliest documented references to Kochi occur in books written by Chinese voyager Ma Huan during his visit to Kochi in the 15th century as part of Admiral Zheng He's treasure fleet.

Port at Kozhikode held superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, while Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather.

Kochi hosted the grave of Vasco da Gama, the first European explorer to set sail for India, who was buried at St Francis Church until his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539.

In 1664, Fort Kochi Municipality was established by Dutch, making it the first municipality in Indian subcontinent, which got dissolved when Dutch authority got weaker in the 18th century.

The hereditary Prime Ministership of Kochi held by the Paliath Achans ended during this period.

Meanwhile, the Dutch, fearing an outbreak of war on the United Provinces, signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 with the United Kingdom, under which Kochi was ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for the island of Bangka, east of Sumatra.

Fort Kochi, which was a part of Malabar District until 1956, was made a municipality on 1 November 1866, along with Kannur, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Palakkad, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 of the British Indian Empire.

Kochi is located on the southwest coast of India at, with a corporation limit area of 94.

Current metropolitan limits of Kochi include the mainland Ernakulam, Fort Kochi, the suburbs of Edapally, Kalamassery, Aluva and Kakkanad to the northeast; Tripunithura to the southeast; and a group of islands closely scattered in the Vembanad Lake.

Kochi is the seat of High Court of Kerala, the highest judicial body in the state of Kerala.

Kochi is part of the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency in Indian Parliament.

Kochi is widely referred to as the financial and commercial capital of Kerala.

Kochi is recognised as one of the seventeen major industrial cities of India by the World Bank Group.

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However, in the 2009 rankings of ease to start and operate a business, among the 17 Indian cities selected, Kochi was rated as the second most difficult city to start business and was ranked 16th, above Kolkata.

Ernakulam district, in which Kochi is situated, ranks first in the total number of domestic tourists visiting Kerala, and thus contributes to the economy of the city.

The Kochi Port is one of the leading ports where international cruisers call on regularly.

Kochi is the headquarters of the Southern Naval Command, the primary training centre of the Indian Navy.

Kochi has an established electronics hardware industry with companies such as V-Guard Industries, OEN India Limited, FCI OEN Connectors and SFO Technologies.

Kochi is the headquarters of the Air India Express service.

Kochi is well connected to neighbouring cities and states via several highways.

The road infrastructure in Kochi has not been able to meet the growing traffic demand and hence traffic congestion is a major problem in the city.

Kochi is served by National Highway 66, National Highway 544, National Highway 966A and National Highway 966B.

Kochi is one of the few cities to be granted the new-generation air-conditioned low-floor and non-air-conditioned semi-low-floor buses under the JNNURM city transport development project.

The main rail transport system in Kochi is operated by the Southern Railway Zone of Indian Railways, and comes under Thiruvananthapuram Railway division.

Kochi Metro is a metro rapid transit system serving the city of Kochi, intended to considerably ease traffic congestion in the city and its surrounding metropolitan area.

The first half of the Phase-1 of Kochi Metro was inaugurated on 17 June 2017 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Currently Kochi Metro is operational from Aluva till Maharaja's College along the Kalamassery - Edappally - Kaloor - MG Road stretch, covering a total of 18.

Kochi has the highest population density in Kerala with 7139 people per km.

The State Crime Records Bureau report gives further credence to this as it finds that Kochi has the fewest crime against women in the state of Kerala.

Kochi is ranked seventh in the list of the top ten most affluent cities in India by 2009 study by Nielsen Company.

Kochi was ranked the fourth cleanest city in India in the Swachch Bharat rankings for cities.

Kochi has a diverse, multicultural, and secular community consisting of Malayalis, Konkanis, Gujaratis, Bengalis, Marathis, Punjabis, Tamilians, Kannadigas, Biharias, Anglo Indians and a few families of Jews among other denominations.

Kochi was one among the seven diocese of Syrian Orthodox in Kerala formed in 1876.

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Kochi has a number of shopping malls including Oberon Mall, Gold Souk Grande, Bay Pride Mall, Centre Square Mall, Abad Nucleus Mall and LuLu Mall, which is one of the largest shopping malls in India in terms of total leasable area of 17 acres.

Kochi is the official food capital of Kerala because of the highest number of restaurants and the varieties of foods available.

Kochi was home to some of the most influential figures in Malayalam literature, including Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, G Sankara Kurup, and Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon.

Maharajas of Kochi were scholars who knew the epics and encouraged the arts.

The Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi is one of the largest stadiums in India with floodlights for Cricket and Football matches.

Kochi is reportedly the sixth best city in India according to the livability index of 2011.

Kochi is the only city from Kerala that have carried out successful heart transplantations.

Kochi has one of the campuses of the Indian Maritime University at Willingdon Island.

The Italian Sister Fabiola conducts a home at Fort Kochi known as "Ashwasa Bhavan", for young orphaned children.

Major Malayalam newspapers published in Kochi include Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Siraj Daily, Madhyamam, Deshabhimani, Deepika, Kerala Kaumudi, Janmabhumi, etc.

Kochi is considered to be the hub of the vibrant Malayalam movie industry, especially contemporary Malayalam movies.

Kochi has a host of state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities.

PVR with 9 screens is another national multiplex brand that has presence in Kochi and is based out of LuLu International Shopping Mall.

Kochi was one of the six cities to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India.

Kochi was home to the now defunct Indian Premier League cricket team, Kochi Tuskers which won franchise rights to play in the 2011 edition of IPL.

Kochi has two golf courses in the city, and one in the suburbs.

Kochi was the only Indian city chosen for stopover during the Volvo Ocean Race 2008.