Kochi metropolitan area in the context of Municipal council (India)

Kochi (/ˈkoʊtʃi/ KOH-chee, Malayalam: [kotˈt͡ʃi] ), formerly known as Cochin (/ˈkoʊtʃɪn/ KOH-chin), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernakulam. As of 2011, the Kochi Municipal Corporation had a population of 677,381 over an area of 94.88 km, and the larger Kochi urban agglomeration had over 2.1 million inhabitants within an area of 440 km, making it the largest and the most populous metropolitan area in Kerala. Kochi city is also part of the Greater Cochin development region and is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India. The civic body that governs the city is the Kochi Municipal Corporation, which was constituted in the year 1967, and the statutory bodies that oversee its development are the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA).

Nicknamed the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi was an important spice trading center on the west coast of India from antiquity. The port of Muziris traded with the Romans, Persians, Arabs, and Chinese. From 1503 to 1663, the Portuguese established Fort Kochi (Fort Emmanuel), before it was taken over by the Dutch in 1663. The Dutch then ceded the area to the United Kingdom. Kochi remained under the control of the Kingdom of Cochin, which became a princely state of the British. Today, Kochi is known as the financial, commercial and industrial capital of Kerala. Kochi is the only city in the country to have a water metro system, which has been described as the world's largest electric boat metro transportation infrastructure. Kochi also successfully conducted the test flight for Kerala's first seaplane service. The Cochin International Airport is the first in the world to operate solely on solar energy. Kochi was one of the 28 Indian cities among the emerging 440 global cities that will contribute 50% of the world GDP by 2025, in a 2011 study done by the McKinsey Global Institute. In July 2018, Kochi was ranked the topmost emerging future megacity in India by global professional services firm JLL.

Cochin Indo-Portuguese, also known as Vypin Indo-Portuguese from its geographic centre, is an Indo-Portuguese creole spoken on the Malabar coast of India, particularly in Fort Cochin, in the state of Kerala. The last person who spoke it as a first language, William Rozario, died in 2010. It is now spoken by Christian families in an around Vypeen Island (Vypin Island) and other areas of the Kochi metropolitan area.

Aluva (Malayalam pronunciation: [ɐːluʋɐ]), formerly known as Alwaye, is a municipality and a northern suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is located about 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the city centre.

Aluva is known for the Sivarathri festival, which is celebrated annually on the sandbanks of the Periyar River. The Advaita Ashram in Aluva, founded in 1913 by Sree Narayana Guru, an Indian social reformer, further enhances the region’s cultural heritage. Today, despite being part of both the city and the Kochi urban agglomeration, Aluva remains an autonomous municipality with its civic administration conducted by the Aluva Municipal Council, since Kochi Corporation has not expanded its limits for over 53 years.

Kochi Water Metro is a passenger ferry system serving the Greater Kochi region in Kerala, India. It is the first water metro system in India and the first integrated water transport system of this size in Asia. When fully operational, it will connect Kochi’s 10 island communities with the mainland through a fleet of 78 hybrid electric boats operating along 38 terminals and 16 routes spanning 76 kilometres (47 mi). It is integrated with the Kochi Metro and serves as a feeder service to the suburbs along the rivers where transport access is limited.

Construction started in 2016, and the first route between Vyttila and InfoPark was inaugurated in February 2021 by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It was officially inaugurated and opened to passengers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 April 2023. As of September 22, 2025, the Kochi Water Metro has served over 5 million passengers.