Location – the land of keralaputras or keram (coconut trees) straddled by the evergreen western ghats on one side and the fathomless Arabian sea on the other, is as differed from the rest of India, lying between north latitudes 80 18′ and 12° 48′ and east longitudes 74° 52′ and 72° 22′.Kerala’s coast runs for some 580 km (360 miles) while the state itself varies between 35 and 120 km (22 -75 miles) in width.
Whereas eastern kerala is situated at the west of the western ghats. It has high mountains, ganges and deep-cut valleys.Kerala has 41 flouring rivers and 3 of its east-flouring . West of mountains lie the midland plains composing central kerala ranging between elevations of 250-1000 metres, the eastern portions of Vilgiri and Palni Hills include such formations as Agastyamalai and Anamalai.
But western coastal belt is relatively flat and is criss-Crodded by a network of inter-connected brackish canal, lakes, estuaries, and rivers (kerala backwaters).