Tucked away in the South West corner of India, Kerala is a narrow strip of land between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats. One of the smallest states in the Republic of India, Kerala was formed in 1956. It has an area of 15,005 sq. miles. (38,863 sq. km.) about one percent of the total land area of India. The state stretches for about 360 miles along the Malabar coast on the western side of the Indian peninsula; its width varies from 20 to 75 miles. It is bordered by the states of Karnataka on the north, Tamil Nadu to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. The state has 14 districts and the capital is in Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram).