It is one of the major business centers in Malappuram district and is situated 26 kilometres (16 mi) west of Malappuram and 52.5 kilometres (32.6 mi) south of Kozhikode, on the Shoranur–Mangalore section under Southern Railway.

Tirur is a major trading centre for electronic devices and seafood in Northern Kerala and has an average elevation of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) above the sea level.

The medieval Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics was mainly centred in and around present-day Tirur Taluk.

[3] Puthiyangadi region in Tirur served as the headquarters of the medieval feudal principality of Tanur,[4] who were allied on various occasions to the Zamorins of Calicut, prior to the East India Company rule in the region (1792–1858) and subsequent British Raj (1858–1947).

[5] As of 2001[update] India census,[6] Tirur had a population of 53,650, of which 48% are male and 52% female.