Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Laccadive Sea seaport and an inland lake (Ashtamudi Lake). The district has many water bodies. Kallada River is one among them, and the east side land of river is East Kallada and the west side land is West Kallada. Overview Kallada Boat race is one of the famous festival events of the district. Even though it is a competition between two land sides of the river, many boat clubs from various places, even beyond the district participate in the event. Kollam is known as the capital of Kerala's cashew industry. Plains, mountains, lakes, lagoons, and backwaters, forests, farmland and rivers make up the topography of the district. The area had trading relationships with Phoenicia and Ancient Rome. Climate Kollam's temperature is almost steady throughout the year. The average temperature ranges from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius. Summer usually runs from March until May; the monsoon begins by June and ends by September. Kollam receives an annual average rainfall of around . It receives both southwest and northeast monsoons. Winter is from November to February; the temperature is moderately cool, ranging from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. Demographics According to the 2011 census Kollam district has a population of 2,635,375, roughly equal to the nation of Kuwait or the US state of Nevada. This gives it a ranking of 155th in India (out of a total of 640 districts). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 1.72 percent. Kollam has a sex ratio of 1113 females for every 1000 males. The total literacy rate of Kollam district was 94.09%. The male literacy rate was 96.09% and the female literacy rate was 92.31% in Kollam district. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 12.46% and 0.41% of the population respectively. Malayalam is the predominant language, spoken by 99.10% of the population. Small minorities of Tamil speakers live in urban areas. Urban structure The Kollam Urban Agglomeration (UA) is the 6th most populous UA in the state. Kollam is placed 49th in the list of most populous urban agglomerations in India. The total urban population of the entire district is . The metropolitan area of Kollam includes Adichanalloor,