Kollam

One of India's oldest continuously inhabited cities, Kollam sits on the Arabian Sea at the southern gateway to Kerala's Backwaters, with Ashtamudi Lake on its banks and mountains visible from the surrounds. The city has drawn traders since antiquity — Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, and Chinese among them — and Ibn Battuta counted it among India's five great ports in the 14th century. Colonial-era ruins, fort remnants, and churches from that long history are scattered across the town and along the nearby beach.

• Population367,107
• Nearest water from center0.0 km
• Nearest mountain from center17.9 km