Out of the total Malappuram population for 2011 census, 44.18 percent lives in urban regions of district. The Malappuram metropolitan area is the fourth-largest urban agglomeration of Kerala and the 25th largest of India with a total population of 1,698,645. According to a study conducted by The Economist in January 2020, Malappuram is the fastest growing metropolitan area of the world. In 2011, Children under 0-6 formed 13.96 percent of Malappuram District compared to 15.21 percent of 2001. Child Sex Ratio as per census 2011 was 965 compared to 960 of census 2001. According to the census 2011, only 0.02% of the total population of the district is houseless. The religions practised in the district include Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and other minor religions. Malappuram is one of the two districts in South India, where the Muslims form a majority, the other being the Lakshadweep district. The principal language used in the district is Malayalam. The Mappila dialect of Malayalam is common in the district. Minority Dravidian languages are Allar (around 350 speakers) and Aranadan, (around 200 speakers). Tamil is also been spoke by a very small fraction of the people. According to the census 2011, the percents of the mother tongue of the total population is as follows:  The district has the highest number of schools in Kerala as per the school statistics of 2019-20. There are 898 Lower primary schools, 363 Upper primary schools, 355 High schools, 248 Higher secondary schools, and 27 Vocational Higher secondary schools in the district. Hence there are 1620 schools in the district. Besides these, there are 120 CBSE schools and 3 ICSE schools in the district. 554 government schools, 810 Aided schools, and 1 unaided school, recognized by the Government of Kerala have been digitalized. In the academic year 2019-20, the total number of students studying in the schools recognized by Government of Kerala is 739,966 - 407,690 in the aided schools, 245,445 in the government schools, and 86,831 in the recognized unaided schools. The district also plays a significant role in the higher education sector of Kerala. The district is home to two of the main universities in the state- the University of Calicut centered at the Thenhipalam which was established in 1968 as the first university in the Malabar region and the second university in Kerala, and the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University centered at Tirur which was established in the year 2012.