Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is located in the Southern most region of India and is surrounded by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry and Karnataka. Tamilians are very fond of dance, music and literature. Bharatnatyam dance form and Carnatic music has grown here since ages. Major festivals celebrated in the state are Diwali, Dussehra, Pongal, Karthika besides many more. Thyagaraja festival, a unique festival of Carnatic music is also celebrated during the month of January. Tamil Nadu has one of the largest tourism industries in the country. The Hindu temples, beaches, hills and national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are a tourists’ delight.
Tamil Nadu (/ˌtæmɪl ˈnɑːduː/; Tamil: [ˈtamiɻ ˈnaːɽɯ] (
listen)) is a state in southern India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian subcontinent and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bounded by the Eastern Ghats on the north, by the Nilgiri Mountains, the Meghamalai Hills, and Kerala on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait on the southeast, and by the Indian Ocean on the south. The state shares a maritime border with the nation of Sri Lanka.
The region was ruled by several regimes, including the “three crowned rulers” – Chera, Chola and Pandyan states, which shape the region’s cuisine, culture, and architecture. After the fall of the Kingdom of Mysore, the British Colonial rule during the modern period led to the emergence of Chennai, then known as Madras, as a metropolitan city. Modern-day Tamil Nadu was formed in 1956 after the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. The state is home to a number of historic buildings, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, hill stations and three World Heritage sites.[8][9][10]
Geography
Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 km2 (50,216 sq mi), and is the tenth-largest state in India. The bordering states are Kerala to the west, Karnataka to the north-west and Andhra Pradesh to the north. To the east is the Bay of Bengal and the state encircles the union territory of Puducherry. The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula is Kanyakumari which is the meeting point of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.
Tamil Nadu is divided in to four major divisions as per the ancient Tamil kings namely Pallava Nadu division, Chera Nadu division, Chola Nadu division and Pandya Nadu division and the four divisions are further subdivided into 38 districts, which are listed below. A district is administered by a District Collector who is mostly an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) member, appointed by State Government. Districts are further divided into 226 Taluks administrated by Tahsildars comprising 1127 Revenue blocks administrated by Revenue Inspector (RI). A District has also one or more Revenue Divisions (in total 76) administrated by Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), constituted by many Revenue Blocks. 16,564 Revenue villages (Village Panchayat) are the primary grassroots level administrative units which in turn might include many villages and administered by a Village Administrative Officer (VAO), many of which form a Revenue Block. Cities and towns are administered by Municipal corporations and Municipalities respectively. The urban bodies include 15 city corporations, 152 municipalities and 529 town panchayats.[82][83][84] The rural bodies include 31 district panchayats, 385 panchayat unions and 12,524 village panchayats.[85][86][87]
Cities and towns
The state capital of Chennai, is the most populous city in the state with more than 8,900,000 residents, followed by Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Salem, respectively.[88][89] Chennai is also the sixth-most populous city in India according to the 2011 Indian census.
Largest cities or towns in Tamil Nadu As of the 2011 Census | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | District | Pop. | ||||||
 Chennai  Coimbatore | 1 | Chennai | Chennai | 8,696,010 |  Madurai  Tiruchirappalli | ||||
| 2 | Coimbatore | Coimbatore | 2,151,466 | ||||||
| 3 | Madurai | Madurai | 1,462,420 | ||||||
| 4 | Tiruchirappalli | Tiruchirappalli | 1,021,717 | ||||||
| 5 | Tiruppur | Tiruppur | 962,982 | ||||||
| 6 | Salem | Salem | 919,150 | ||||||
| 7 | Erode | Erode | 521,776 | ||||||
| 8 | Vellore | Vellore | 504,079 | ||||||
| 9 | Tirunelveli | Tirunelveli | 498,984 | ||||||
| 10 | Thoothukudi | Thoothukudi | 410,760 | ||||||
Demographics
Tamil Nadu is the seventh most populous state in India. 48.4 per cent of the state’s population lives in urban areas, the third-highest percentage among large states in India. The state has registered the lowest fertility rate in India in the year 2005–06 with 1.7 children born for each woman, lower than required for population sustainability.[91][92]
At the 2011 India census, Tamil Nadu had a population of 72,147,030.[93] The sex ratio of the state is 995 with 36,137,975 males and 36,009,055 females. There are a total of 23,166,721 households.[93] The total children under the age of 6 is 7,423,832. A total of 14,438,445 people constituting 20.01 per cent of the total population belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 794,697 people constituting 1.10 per cent of the population belonged to Scheduled tribes (ST).[94][93]
The state has 51,837,507 literates, making the literacy rate 80.33 per cent. There are a total of 27,878,282 workers, comprising 4,738,819 cultivators, 6,062,786 agricultural labourers, 1,261,059 in house hold industries, 11,695,119 other workers, 4,120,499 marginal workers, 377,220 marginal cultivators, 2,574,844 marginal agricultural labourers, 238,702 marginal workers in household industries and 929,733 other marginal workers.[95]
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Tamil Nadu, List of conglomerates in Tamil Nadu, and List of rivers of Tamil Nadu
or the year 2014–15 Tamil Nadu’s GSDP was ₹9.767 trillion (US$140 billion), and growth was 14.86.[112] It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991–2002) of ₹225.826 billion ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra and Delhi constituting 9.12 per cent of the total FDI in the country.[113] The per capita income in 2007–2008 for the state was ₹72,993 ranking third among states with a population over 10 million and has steadily been above the national average.[114]
According to the 2011 Census, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in India (49 per cent), accounting for 9.6 per cent of the urban population while only comprising 6 per cent of India’s total population.[115][116] Services contributes to 45 per cent of the economic activity in the state, followed by manufacturing at 34 per cent and agriculture at 21 per cent. The government is the major investor in the state with 51 per cent of total investments, followed by private Indian investors at 29.9 per cent and foreign private investors at 14.9 per cent. Tamil Nadu has a network of about 113 industrial parks and estates offering developed plots with supporting infrastructure. According to the publications of the Tamil Nadu government, the Gross State Domestic Product at Constant Prices (The base year 2004–2005) for the year 2011–2012 is ₹4.281 trillion (US$60 billion), an increase of 9.39 per cent over the previous year. The per capita income at the current price is ₹72,993.
Tamil Nadu has six Nationalized Home Banks which originated in this state; Two government-sector banks Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank in Chennai, and four private-sector banks City Union Bank in Kumbakonam, Karur Vysya Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank in Karur, and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited in Tuticorin.
Transportation
Road
Tamil Nadu has a transportation system that connects all parts of the state. Tamil Nadu is served by an extensive road network, providing links between urban centers, agricultural market-places and rural areas. There are 29 national highways in the state, covering a total distance of 5,006.14 km (3,110.67 mi).[149][150] The state is also a terminus for the Golden Quadrilateral project, that connects Indian metropolises like (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata).
The major road junctions are Chennai, Vellore, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Salem, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Karur, Kumbakonam, Krishnagiri, Dindigul and Kanniyakumari. Road transport is provided by state owned Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and State Express Transport Corporation.
Rail
Tamil Nadu has a well-developed rail network as part of Southern Railway. Headquartered at Chennai, the Southern Railway network extends over a large area of India’s southern peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, a small portion of Karnataka and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh. Express trains connect the state capital Chennai with Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata. Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station is the gateway for trains towards the north whereas Chennai Egmore serves as the gateway for the south. Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 5,952 km (3,698 mi) and there are 532 railway stations in the state. The network connects the state with most major cities in India.
Airports
Tamil Nadu has four international airports, namely Chennai International Airport, Coimbatore International Airport, Tiruchirapalli International Airport and Madurai International Airport. It has the largest number of International Airports along with Kerala. Salem Airport, Thoothukudi Airport and Vellore Airport are the domestic airports. Chennai International Airport is a major international airport and aviation hub in South Asia. Besides civilian airports, the state has four air bases of the Indian Air Force namely Thanjavur AFS, Tambram AFS, Coimbatore AFS and two naval air stations INS Rajali and INS Parundu of Indian Navy. Neyveli Airport is being renovated since 2019[153] to start the service from mid 2020.
