Kottayam is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about 151 km (93.8 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of 136,812 people, and a population density of 2,470/km2 (6,400/sq mi). Kottayam is also referred to as "the City of Letters" as many of the first Malayalam daily newspapers, such as Deepika, Malayala Manorama, and Mangalam, were started and are headquartered in Kottayam, as are a number of publishing houses.