Kanhangad or Kanjangad is a major town and a Municipality in the Kasaragod District, state of Kerala, India. It is 28 km from the district headquarters of Kasaragod town and 79 km from Mangalore city. Kanhangad has a total population of 1,25,564.
The highest employment in the district is in Textile, Metal based, Plastic, Rubber based, Mineral based, Wood based and Agro based industries. The district has 14% of the workforce employed in the Agricultural Sector, 81% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 5% are Household workers.
Kasaragod is the northern most district of the State and was formed on the 24th May, 1984 taking Kasaragod and Hosdurg taluks from the then Kannur District. The name Kasaragod is said to be derived from the word “Kasaragod” which means Nuxvemied Forest (Kanjirakuttam). Lying on the north western coast of the State, Kasaragod was famous from time immemorial. Many Arab travellers, who came to Kerala between ninth and 14th centuries AD, visited Kasaragod as it was then an important trade centre.
The District comprises of a single revenue division Kasaragod consisting of 2 Taluks and 127 revenue villages including 34 villages in urban areas. There are 4 Community Development Blocks and 39 Panchayats. Out of 93 rural villages, 64 are in Kasaragod Taluk and 29 villages are in Hosdurg Taluk. The two statutory towns in the district are Kasaragod and Kanhangad. The Collectorate functions at the Civil Station, at Vidhyanagar, Chengala Panchayat, 5 kms away from Kasaragod town. Kasaragod is the only revenue division in the district and its office is at Kanhangad.
The district falls into three natural divisions, the low land bordering the sea, the midland consisting of the undulating country and forest clad highland on the extreme east. The low land is almost level in topography and has thick groves of coconut and paddy fields. The highland lies mainly on the slope of the Western Ghats with its upper reaches occupied by forests and lower sides by plantation crops like Rubber. In between the above two lies the midland which occupies the larger area of the zone.
