Hosdurg taluk

Hosdurg is one of the four taluks that constitute the Kasaragod District, state of Kerala; the others are Kasaragod Taluk, Manjeshwaram taluk and Vellarikundu taluk. In the north, it borders Kasaragod taluk; in south, the Kannur District; in the east, Dakshina Kannada and the Coorg district of Karnataka; and in the west, the Arabian sea. With an area of 900.3 km² (90030 hectares), it is the smaller of the two^{[clarification needed]} taluks.^[1] Kanhangad and Nileshwaram are the municipalities within the taluk. Hosdurg (after which the taluk is named) is a kilometer south of Kanhangad town, the latter being the taluk headquarters. Other major settlements include Trikarpur, Cheruvathur and Chittarikkal. Bekal Fort tourism is situated in the taluk. The name Hosdurg comes from the Kannada words hosa ("new") and durga ("fort").

Demographics

As per the 2001 census, Hosdurg taluk had a total population of 449,595 persons, which included 217,083 males and 232,512 females.^[1] The literacy rate is 85.82%, higher than the national average.^[1] In Hosdurg taluk, 12.42% of the total population is between the ages of 0–6 years.^[1] Malayalam is the administrative language of the region.