Thiruvananthapuram is the capital and largest city of Kerala, serving as its educational and industrial hub, with a population of 7,40,000. The city is characterized by its terrain of low coastal hills, bounded by the Lakshadweep sea to the west and the Western Ghats to the east. The city is located at an altitude of 16 feet above the sea level and serves as the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram district. The city has the highest number of Malayalam speakers, the official, native language of the state that is written in Malayalam script. As per the 2011 census data, the population of the district is 3.3 million, out of which 37 percent constitute the working age population. 11 percent of the total working age population is engaged in the agriculture sector and 2 percent in the Household Industry, while the majority of the workforce at 87 percent, contribute to industry and services. The regions strength is in the Information Technology and Tertiary Sector. Besides this, large and small scale industrial units of the city have supported the traditional crafts like handloom, spices and coir in the growth of the economy of the entire district. The Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the most important sacred sites that is mentioned in many Hindu texts and Puranas. The name of the city has an interesting history too: Thiruvananthapuram means the adobe of the scared snake god Ananthan on whom Lord Vishnu is said to be reclining .The old name of the city Trivandrum was an Anglicized form of Thiruvananthapuram.
