Kottayam is an important commercial centre of Kerala, India, thanks to its strength as a producer of cash crops. Most of India's natural rubber originates from the acres of well-kept plantations of Kottayam, also home to the Rubber Board, One of the country's primary commodities board.

Kottayam, among the state's more mountainous districts, provides some of Kerala's finest natural scenes sandwiched as it is between serene palm-fringed backwaters on the west and the Western ghats on the east. Much of this beauty is laid out in all its glory along the road which winds from Kottayam to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thekkady through plantations of rubber, tea, coffee and pepper.
Kottayam is a compound word -Kotta + Akkam which means the interior of a fort. Rulers of Munjanad and Thekkumkur had their head quarters at Thazhathangadi in the present Kottayam Town. Marthanda Varma of Travancore attacked Thekkumkur and destroyed the palace and the Taliyil fort. The remnants of palaces and forts are still seen here.

History
The present district of Kottayam was previously a part of erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Earlier, the Travancore state consisted of two revenue divisions viz., the Southern and the Northern division, under the administrative control of Divan Peshkar for each. Later, in 1868, two more divisions, Quilon and Kottayam, were constituted. The fifth division - Devikulam, came next but for a short period, which in course of time, was added to Kottayam. 

At the time of integration of the State of Travancore and Cochin in 1984, these revenue divisions were renamed as districts and the Divan Peshkars gave way to District Collectors, marking the birth of Kottayam District. 

The beginning of of the 9th century A.D. is the age of Kulashekaras. At that time, Kottayam was a part of the Kulashekara Empire (1090-1102 A.D). The Vembanad Lake itself derives its name from Vempolinad. 

The Kingdom of Vempolinad, split itself into kingdoms of Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur by about 1100 A.D. and later these two kingdoms were annexed by Marthanda Varma of Travancore (between 1748 and 1754).

The Portuguese and the Dutch had their business relations with both Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur kingdoms, pepper and other spices being the main attractions. 

In addition to Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur, Marthanda Varma brought two more pretty principalities in Kottayam under his control. These were Poonjar and Meenachil.

After Marthanda Varma, Dharma Raja (1758-1798) placed Kottayam in a key position in the new defense strategy against Haider Ali and Tippu Sulthan of Mysore. Apart from this, Kottayam afforded asylum to a number of refugee princes who left Malabar in the wake of Mysore invasions.

Kottayam occupied a pre-eminent position in the cultural life of the Travancore princely court, the main reason being the migration of Ramapurathu Warrier, the famous poet of Vadakkumkur, to Triruvananthapuram , following the annexation of Kottayam by Marthanda Varma.

Kottayam has played its role in all the political agitation of modern times.The "Malayali Memorial" agitation may be said to have had its origin in Kottayam. The Malayali Memorial sought to secure better representation for educated Travancoreans in Travancore civil service aganist persons from outside. The memorial that was presented to Maharaja Sri Mulam Thirunal (1891) was drafted at a public meeting held in Kottayam Public Library. The event marked the beginning of the modern political movement in the state.

It was here that the famous Vaikom Satyagraha, (1924-25) an epic struggle for eradication of untouchability, took place. Scheduled castes and other backward classes in Travancore were not only denied entry into temples, but also access to temple roads. Vaikom, the seat of a celebrated Siva Temple, was the venue of the symbolic Satyagraha. It is of immense historic significance that national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, C.Rajagopalachari, Acharaya Vinoba Bhava and E.V.Ramaswami Naykar, associated with this struggle.

The ‘Nivarthana’ agitation of the early thirties, to secure adequate representation for the non-caste Hindus, Christians and Muslims in State Legislature, enjoyed considerable support from this district. 

The district was also a centre of the agitation led by the State Congress for responsible Government in Travancore. The agitation had a triumphant end, with overthrow of Sir. C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, the then Divan of Travancore.

Climate
The district has a tropical humid climate with an oppressive hot season in the plains and plenty of rainfall throughout . The hot season from March to May, is followed by the South-West Monsoon from June to September.October and November constitute the post-Monsoon or retreating Monsoon season, when day temperature increases gradually and the heat is nearly as intense as in summer. December to February forms the North-East Monsoon. Rains cease early in January.

Lying a little south to central Kerala, Kottayam district is bordered on the north by Ernakulam district, on the east by Idukki district and on the south by Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts. The Vembanad lake forms the western boundary. Kottayam, lies between Latitude

9º,15’ and 10º, 21’ and Longitude 76º,22’ and 77º,25’. The district is naturally divided into highland, midland and lowland; the bulk being constituted by the midland regions. Tauks of Meenachil and Kanjirapally have Highland and Midland areas, while the other three taluks have Midland and Lowland areas.

Kottayam district has a total area of 2204sq.kms, which forms 5.7% of the total areas of the State.

Cultural Contributions
Kottayam has its place of honour in the cultural map of Kerala. Kunchan Nambiar, the father of Thullal, a popular temple art form, was supposed to have lived at Kidangoor.

Unnineeli Sandesam, the exquisite Malayalam poetical work, is supposed to have been written by one of the Vadakkumkur Rajas. Ramapurathu Warrier (1703-53) is one of the celebrated names in Malayalam literatures. 

Population
There is a total population of 1828271 according to the Census of 1991. Male population is 9,12,860 and female population is 9,15,411. The density of population is 830 sq.km. The number of occupied residents houses in rural is 2,98.104 and in urban area is 61781. The number of workers come to about 4.5 lakh.