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Kerala's Backwaters are a chain of brackish canals, lagoons and lakes running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (historically known as the Malabar Coast) of Kerala in South West India. This network includes five large lakes linked by a series of canals, both man-made and natural, these in turn fed by some thirty eight rivers that drop down from the inland hills or Southern Ghats. The backwaters extend almost half the length of Kerala although many are not navigable per se by riceboats. Ecologically, the backwaters were formed by the action of ocean waves and shore currents that created a series of low barrier islands across the mouths of the rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range which formed a complete coastline comprised of low lying dunes anchored by trees and scrub.