According to census 2011, the town has 1,642,892 people inhabiting it.
Malayalam and English are official languages. However, majority of people also speak Tamil and Hindi.
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Kannur is a town in the northern coastal region of Kerala. It was also known as Cannanore during the British Raj. The name Kannur has two etymological possibilities. One is that the name was derived from an ancient village called Kanathur. The other theory is that it is a mix of two words, Kannan- meaning Lord Krishna and Ur- meaning place, making the literal translation to be ‘The place of Lord Krishna’. It has been titled as the Land of Looms and Lores due to the loom industry here.
The town is famous for its temple festivals where the popular dance form of Theyyam is performed. This town is rich in natural beauty. There are some ancient forts, unperturbed wildlife, pristine beaches and famed temples, which have contributed to the blooming tourism of the place. Thousands of pilgrims flock this town in the months of June and July to be a part of Kottiyoor Vysakha Mahotsavam, a religious pilgrimage festival.
Kannur is located in northern coastal Kerala with an elevation of 1.02m. It has sandy beaches and an 8km long seashore and 3km long beach. The city has a humid tropical monsoon climate. The summers have an average temperature of 35 °C and winters are also moderate with 20 °C average. Heavy rainfalls occur here during monsoon.
Kannur can be reached via NH66 which passes through the town. Several bus services connect it with cities such as Mysore and Bangalore. The town has a busy railway station from where many express and passenger trains pass, connecting it to Trivandrum, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. It is an important station of the Southern Railways. The airports of Mangalore and Calicut are at an equal distance. Kochi airport can be used by international travellers.
The town has cheap bus transport system. The auto rickshaws here are known for their fair dealings. Taxis or rented cars can also be availed for intra-city travel.