Tamil Nādu

Tamil Nādu, state in southern India, bordered on the north by Andhra Pradesh state, on the northwest by Karnātaka state, on the west by Kerala state, and on the east and south by the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Occupying the extreme south of the Indian peninsula, Tamil Nādu has an area of 130,058 sq km (50,216 sq mi).

Most of Tamil Nādu is hilly. To the north lie the Nīlgiri Hills, covering an area of 2,500 sq km (1,000 sq mi) and rising to 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in places. To the west lie the Western Ghats and in the south, the Anamalai Hills. East of the hills lie the plains and the flat alluvial coast, with deltas at the mouths of the major rivers. The Kāveri (Cauvery) River and its tributaries are Tamil Nādu's most important sources of water for irrigation and power generation. Other rivers running through the state are dry during part of the year because the hills create a rain shadow effect that blocks precipitation. The climate is essentially tropical, with the plains being hotter than the uplands. During the October to December monsoonal season, the coastal area often suffers severe damage from cyclones sweeping in from the eastern Indian Ocean. Rainfall averages between about 630 and 1,900 mm (about 25 and 75 in) a year. The hill areas tend to receive the most rain. Tamil Nādu, on the whole, is much drier than Kerala to the west.

Tamil Nādu had a population of 62,110,839 in 2001, with an average population density of 478 persons per sq km (1,238 per sq mi). Chennai (formerly Madras), the capital, is India's fourth largest city and a major port and industrial center. Madurai, famous for its temples, is now also an important industrial center. Ethnically, Tamil Nādu's population has changed little since the earliest settlements; the vast majority of people are Dravidians. Groups of tribal people live in the Nīlgiri Hills, among them the Todas, Badagas, Kotas, Kurumbas, and Irulas. More than 85 percent of the population speaks Tamil, which is the state's official language; in the north about 10 percent speak Telugu. The Tamil language is one of the oldest literary languages in India; some Tamil poetry dates back almost 2,000 years. Most of the population are Hindus, with small minorities of Muslims, Jains, Parsis, and Christians. Throughout Tamil Nādu there is a vital tradition of music and dance; Chennai is the center of Bharata Natyam, one of India's major classical dance forms. Located in Tamil Nādu are the Indian Institute of Technology Central Library (opened in 1959) in Chennai, Anāmalai University (1929) in Annāmalainagar, Bharathidasan University (1982) in Tiruchchirāppalli, University of Madras (1857) in Chennai, and Madurai-Kamaraj University (1966) in Madurai.

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the population. Irrigation has been practiced since the earliest times; today there are more than 20,000 km (12,430 mi) of irrigation channels. Important crops include sugarcane, groundnuts, oilseeds, cotton, bananas, potatoes, tea, and spices. Tamil Nādu is one of India's most industrialized states. Industrial production is focused around Chennai and includes cotton, sugar, leather (more than 40 percent of India's exports), textiles, engineering, petrochemicals, and the manufacture of vehicles, railway rolling stock, and precision tools. Although power-generating capacity has increased, Tamil Nādu suffers from a shortage of electricity. A nuclear power station completed in 1986 and located south of Chennai at Kālpākkam is still not producing at full capacity. Tamil Nādu has a well-developed transportation network, including national and state highways; railroads; airports at Chennai, Madurai, and Tiruchchirāppalli; and major ports at Chennai and Tuticorin.

Tamil Nādu has a single-chamber Legislative Assembly with 235 seats. The state sends 57 members to the Indian national parliament: 18 to the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and 39 to the Lok Sabha (lower house). There are 18 local government administrative districts. Tamil parties have dominated the state legislature since 1967, when the Indian National Congress, the dominant national party, was defeated after the national government tried to impose Hindi as the state language of Tamil Nādu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (DMK), which calls for full autonomy for Tamil Nādu within the Indian Union, and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (AIADMK), a more nationalistic breakaway faction of the DMK, are Tamil Nādu's main political parties today.

Tamil Nādu's history dates back over 2,000 years. The area of the modern state was ruled by various dynasties, including the Cholas, Pandyas, Chereas, Pallavas, and Vijayanagar. These different influences produced some of the finest temples and most notable dance and literature in India. The English East India Company established a trading post in a fishing village (now Chennai) in 1639, and then steadily spread its power inland, despite opposition from local rulers. At Indian independence in 1947, Tamil Nādu was part of the administrative region known as the Madras Presidency. The Tamil-speaking areas of the presidency were made into Madras state under the States Reorganization Act of 1956; the state was renamed Tamil Nādu in 1968. In 1991 the former prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in Chennai by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group based in Sri Lanka.