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Kozhikode (pronounced [koːɻikːoːɖɨ̆] (listen)), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making Kozhikode metropolitan area the second-largest in Kerala and the 19th largest in India. Kozhikode is classified as a Tier 2 city by the Government of India. NIT Calicut and IIM Kozhikode are two institutions of national importance located in the district. Kozhikode is the largest city in the erstwhile Malabar District and acted as its headquarters during British Raj. In antiquity and the medieval period, Kozhikode was dubbed the City of Spices for its role as the major trading point for Indian spices. It was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins), which was also the largest kingdom in Kerala prior to the expansion of Travancore in the mid-18th century CE. The port at Kozhikode acted as the gateway to medieval South Indian coast for the Chinese, the Arabs, the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the British. Kozhikode district is bordered by the districts of Kannur and Mahé (Puducherry) to the north, Wayanad to the east, and Malappuram to the south. The Arabian Sea lies to the west and Western Ghats stretches towards east. Vavul Mala, a 2,339 m high peak situated on the trijunction of Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Wayanad districts, is the highest point of elevation in the district. It lies between latitudes 11° 08'N and 11° 50'N and longitudes 75° 30'E and 76° 8'E. The Thamarassery Churam connects the city of Kozhikode with the plateau of Wayanad. The district is divided into four taluks: Kozhikode, Vatakara, Koyilandy and Thamarassery. By the 2011 census there are 12 block panchayats: Balusseri, Chelannur, Koduvally, Kozhikode, Kunnamangalam, Kunnummal, Melady, Panthalayani, Perambra, Thodannur, Thuneri and Vatakara. The Multidimensional Poverty Index report prepared by NITI Aayog based on the National Family Health Survey 2015–16 declared Kozhikode as the third-least poor district in India, only after to Kottayam and Ernakulam, with a negligible multidimensional poverty rate of 0.26%.
