Fort Dansborg at Tharangambadi built by the Danes.
Main article: Madras Presidency
Around 1609, the Dutch established a settlement in Pulicat, while the Danes had their establishment in Tharangambadi also known as Tranquebar. In 1639, the British, under the East India Company, established a settlement further south of Pulicat, in present day Chennai. In the late 18th century, the British fought and reduced the French dominions in India to Puducherry. Nizams of Hyderabad and the Nawabs of the Carnatic bestowed tax revenue collection rights on the East India Company for defeating the Kingdom of Mysore. After winning the Polygar wars, the East India Company consolidated most of southern India into the Madras Presidency coterminous with the dominions of Nizam of Hyderabad. Pudukkottai remained as a princely state.
Democratic India (1947 - present)
Srivilliputhur Andal Temple Tower, official symbol of the Government of Tamil Nadu
When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras State, comprising present day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh up to Ganjam district in Orissa, South Canara district Karnataka, and parts of Kerala. The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1969, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning "Tamil country". 50
Geography
Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 km2 (50,216 sq mi), and is the eleventh 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 union territory of Puducherry. The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula is located in Tamil Nadu. At this point is the town of Kanyakumari which is the meeting point of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean. The south boundary of India is Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
Topographic map of Tamil Nadu
The western, southern and the north western parts are hilly and rich in vegetation. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats and they both meet at the Nilgiri hills. The Western Ghats dominate the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain bearing clouds of the south west monsoon from entering the state. The eastern parts are fertile coastal plains and the northern parts are a mix of hills and plains. The central and the south central regions are arid plains and receive less rainfall than the other regions.
Tamil Nadu has a coastline of about 910 km (570 mi) which is the country’s third longest coastline. Tamil Nadu's coastline bore the brunt of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when it hit India, which caused 7,793 direct deaths in the state. Tamil Nadu falls mostly in a region of low seismic hazard with the exception of the western border areas that lie in a low to moderate hazard zone; as per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, Tamil Nadu falls in Zones II & III. Historically, parts of this region have experienced seismic activity in the M5.0 range. 51
Flora and fauna
Main articles: Wildlife of Tamil Nadu and List of birds of Tamil Nadu
There are about 2000 species of wildlife that are native to Tamil Nadu. Protected areas provide safe habitat for large mammals including elephants, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, gaurs, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri Langurs, Nilgiri Tahrs, Grizzled Giant Squirrels and Sambar deer, resident and migratory birds such as cormorants, darters, herons, egrets, Open-billed storks, Spoonbills and White Ibises, Little Grebes, Indian Moorhen, Black-winged Stilts, a few migratory Ducks and occasionally Grey pelicans, marine species such as the Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and Balanoglossus and a wide variety of fish and insects.
The endangered Lion-tailed Macaque is found in a few forests in southern India.
Indian Angiosperm diversity comprises 17,672 species with Tamil Nadu leading all states in the country, with 5640 species accounting for 1/3 of the total flora of India. This includes 1559 species of medicinal plants, 533 endemic species, 260 species of wild relatives of cultivated plants and 230 red-listed species. The Gymnosperm diversity of the country is 64 species of which Tamil Nadu has four indigenous species and about 60 introduced species. The Pteridophytes diversity of India includes 1022 species of which Tamil Nadu has about 184 species. Vast numbers of bryophytes, lichen, fungi, algae and bacteria are among the wild plant diversity of Tamil Nadu.
Common plant species include the state tree: Palmyra Palm, Eucalyptus, Rubber, Cinchona, Clumping Bamboos (Bambusa Arundinacea), Common teak, Anogeissus latifolia, Indian Laurel, Grewia, and blooming trees like Indian labumusum, Ardisia, and Solanaceae. Rare and unique plant life includes Combretum ovalifolium, Ebony (Diospyros nilagrica), Habenaria rariflora (Orchid), Alsophila, Impatiens elegans, Ranunculus reniformis, and Royal fern. 52
National and State Parks
Main article: Protected areas of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu has a wide range of Biomes extending east from the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in the Western Ghats through the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests and Deccan thorn scrub forests to tropical dry broadleaf forests and then to the beaches, estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs of the Bay of Bengal.
Kodayar Shola Forests in the Western Ghats of Kanyakumari District
The state has a range of flora and fauna with many species and habitats. To protect this diversity of wildlife there are Protected areas of Tamil Nadu as well as biospheres which protect larger areas of natural habitat often include one or more National Parks. The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve established in 1986 is a marine ecosystem with seaweed and sea grass communities, coral reefs, salt marshes and mangrove forests. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve located in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills comprises part of adjoining states of Kerala and Karnataka. The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve is in the south west of the state bordering Kerala in the Western Ghats. Tamil Nadu is home to five declared National parks located in Anamalai, Mudumalai, Mukurithi, Gulf of Mannar and Guindy located in the center of Chennai city. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Mukurthi National Park and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve are the tiger reserves in the state. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve has the largest elephant population in India. Besides these bio reserves, there are many state and central run wild life sanctuaries for tiger, elephant and birds.
Climate
A semi-arid wasteland near Tirunelveli. Monsoon clouds pour torrents of rain on windward-facing Kerala, but are prevented from reaching Tirunelveli by the Agasthyamalai Range of the Western Ghats (background).
Tamil Nadu is mostly dependent on monsoon rains, and thereby is prone to droughts when the monsoons fail. The climate of the state ranges from dry sub-humid to semi-arid. The state has three distinct periods of rainfall:
advancing monsoon period, south west monsoon from June to September, with strong southwest winds;
North east monsoon from October to December, with dominant north east winds;
dry season from January to May.
The annual rainfall of the state is about 945 mm (37.2 in) of which 48 per cent is through the north east monsoon, and 32 per cent through the south west monsoon. Since the state is entirely dependent on rains for recharging its water resources, monsoon failures lead to acute water scarcity and severe drought. 53
Tamil Nadu is classified into seven agro-climatic zones: north east, north west, west, southern, high rainfall, high altitude hilly, and Cauvery Delta (the most fertile agricultural zone). The table below shows the maximum and minimum temperatures that the state experiences in the plains and hills.
Governance and administration
State symbols of Tamil Nadu
Song Neerarum Kadaludutha.jpgInvocation to Goddess Tamil
Dance Bharatanatyam male.jpgBharathanattiyam
Animal Niltahr.jpgNilgiri Tahr
Bird Emerald dove444.jpgEmerald Dove
Flower Gloriosa Superba.jpgGloriosa Lily
Tree Palm Tamil Nadu.jpgPalm Tree
Sport Kabaddi.jpgSadugudu
Main articles: Government of Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu Legislature
The Governor is the constitutional head of the state while the Chief Minister is the head of the government and the head of the council of ministers. The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is the head of the judiciary. The present Governor, Chief Minister and the Chief Justice are Konijeti Rosaiah, J. Jayalalitha and Rajesh Kumar Agarwal 54 respectively. Administratively the state is divided into 32 districts. It has 10 city corporations, 125 municipalities, 529 town panchayats and 12,524 village panchayats. 55 56 Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the state capital. It is the fourth largest city in India and is also one of the eight Metropolitan cities of India. The state comprises 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and 234 Legislative Assembly constituencies.
Tamil Nadu had a bicameral legislature until 1986, when it was replaced with a unicameral legislature, like most other states in India. The term length of the government is five years, as is elsewhere in India. The present government run by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance came to power in 2011 and consists of a council of 33 ministers, headed by the Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly is housed at the Fort St. George in Chennai. The state had come under the President's rule rule on four occasions – first from 1976 to 1977, next for a short period in 1980, then from 1988 to 1989 and the latest in 1991.
The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli district is often listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world.
The local administration is divided into revenue administration and developmental administration. Revenue administrative units are classified based on the district. Each of the 32 districts in Tamil Nadu is divided into divisions, which are further divided to Taluks. 57 Each of these Taluks have a list of revenue villages under them. Tahsildar is the head of these Taluks. Developmental administration, in contrast, is carried out by Panchayat Unions (called blocks) in rural areas. These panchayat unions have a set of panchayat villages under them. In urban areas, the governance is done by municipal corporations, municipalities or town panchayats based on the size of the town. 57 Tamil Nadu has 10 municipal corporations: Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Erode, Thoothukudi and Vellore. Nagercoil and Thanjavur are soon going to be upgraded as the next two Municipal corporations.
Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering state of E-Governance initiatives in India. A large part of the government records like land ownership records are digitised and all major offices of the state government like Urban Local Bodies — all the corporations and municipal office activities – revenue collection, land registration offices, and transport offices have been computerised. Tamil Nadu is one of the states where law and order has been maintained largely successfully. 58 The Tamil Nadu Police Force is over 140 years old. It is the fifth largest state police force in India and has the largest strength of women police personnel in the country. 59 As of 2003, the state had a total police population ratio of 1:668, higher than the national average of 1:717. The current Director General of Police (law and order) of Tamil Nadu is K. Ramanujan. 60
Districts
Main article: Districts of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is subdivided into 32 districts, which are listed below. The numbers in the first column correspond to those on the map:
Districts of Tamil Nadu
District Headquarters Area Population
(2011) Population
density
1 Ariyalur Ariyalur 1,944 km³ 752,481 387 /km²
2 Chennai Chennai 174 km² 4,681,087 26,903 /km²
3 Coimbatore Coimbatore 4,642 km² 3,172,578 648 /km²
4 Cuddalore Cuddalore 3,705 km² 2,600,880 702 /km²
5 Dharmapuri Dharmapuri 4,527 km² 1,502,900 332 /km²
6 Dindigul Dindigul 6,054 km² 2,161,367 357 /km²
7 Erode Erode 5,692 km² 2,259,608 397 /km²
8 Kanchipuram Kanchipuram 4,305 km² 2,690,897 666 /km²
9 Kanyakumari Nagercoil 1,685 km² 1,863,174 1,106 /km²
10 Karur Karur 2,902 km² 1,076,588 371 /km²
11 Krishnagiri Krishnagiri 5,091 km² 1,883,731 370 /km²
12 Madurai Madurai 3,695 km² 2,441,038 663 /km²
13 Nagapattinam Nagapattinam 2,416 km² 1,614,069 668 /km²
14 Namakkal Namakkal 3,402 km² 1,721,179 506 /km²
15 Nilgiris Udagamandalam 2,552 km² 735,071 288 /km²
16 Perambalur Perambalur 1,748 km² 564,511 323 /km²
17 Pudukkottai Pudukkottai 4,652 km² 1,618,725 348 /km²
18 Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram 4,180 km² 1,337,560 320 /km²
19 Salem Salem 5,249 km² 3,480,008 663 /km²
20 Sivaganga Sivaganga 4,140 km² 1,341,250 324 /km²
21 Thanjavur Thanjavur 3,477 km² 2,302,781 661 /km²
22 Theni Theni 2,872 km² 1,143,684 397 /km²
23 Thoothukudi Thoothukudi 4,599 km² 1,738,376 378 /km²
24 Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli 4,508 km² 2,713,858 602 /km²
25 Tirunelveli Tirunelveli 6,709 km² 3,072,880 458 /km²
26 Tirupur Tirupur 5,192 km² 2,471,222 476 /km²
27 Tiruvallur Tiruvallur 3,552 km² 3,725,697 1,049 /km²
28 Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai 6,188 km² 4,121,965 667 /km²
29 Tiruvarur Tiruvarur 2,379 km² 1,268,094 533 /km²
30 Vellore Vellore 6,081 km² 4,028,106 671 /km²
31 Viluppuram Viluppuram 7,185 km² 3,463,284 482 /km²
32 Virudhunagar Virudhunagar 4,280 km² 1,943,309 454 /km²
Politics
Political
Alliance Assembly
(2011) Lok Sabha
(2009)
AIADMK+ 203 12
DMK+ 31 27
Independent/Other 0 0
Source: Election Commission of India. 61 62
Main articles: Elections in Tamil Nadu, Politics of Tamil Nadu, and Dravidian parties
Pre-Independent politicians and freedom fighters
Prior to Indian independence Tamil Nadu was under British colonial rule as part of the Madras Presidency. The main party in Tamil Nadu at that time was the Indian National Congress (INC). Regional parties have dominated state politics since 1916. One of the earliest regional parties, the South Indian Welfare Association, a forerunner to Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, was started in 1916. The party was called after its English organ, Justice Party, by it opponents. Later, South Indian Liberal Federation was adopted as its official name. The reason for victory of the Justice Party in elections was the non-participation of the INC, demanding complete independence of India.
The Justice Party which was under E.V.Ramaswamy was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (DK for short) in 1944. DK was a non-political party which demanded the establishment of an independent state called Dravida Nadu. However, due to the differences between its two leaders EVR and C.N. Annadurai, the party was split. Annadurai left the party to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to enter politics in 1956. In the 19th century, western scholars discovered that the Dravidian languages dominating southern India formed a different linguistic group than the Indo-Aryan languages predominant in northern India. They also classified Indians into distinct Aryan and Dravidian races. It was proposed that the generally darker-skinned Dravidians constituted a distinct race. This concept has affected thinking in India about racial and regional differences and had an impact on aspects of Tamil nationalism, which has appropriated the claim that Dravidians are the earliest inhabitants of India, and the Aryan population were oppressive interlopers from whom Dravidians should liberate themselves.
Fort St. Secretariat of the government of Tamil Nadu.
Post-Independent India
Re-organisation of Indian states according to linguistic and ethnic basis has moderated Tamil nationalism, especially the demand for separation from the Indian Union. The Anti-Hindi agitations in mid-1960s made the DMK more popular and a more powerful political force in the state. The DMK routed the INC in the 1967 elections and took control of the state government, ending INC's stronghold in Tamil Nadu. C.N. Annadurai became the DMK's first Chief Minister. Muthuvel Karunanidhi took over as Chief Minister and party leader after Annadurai's death in 1969. Karunanidhi's leadership was soon challenged by M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR. In 1972, he split from DMK and formed the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and later renamed the party as All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam. He was the Chief Minister of the state from 1977 until his death in 1987. After the death of MGR, AIADMK was defeated in 1989 assembly polls because of the split of the party into two factions headed by Janaki (wife of MGR) and Jayalalithaa. Later on J. Jayalalithaa took control of the party. She was elected as the General Secretary of the unified AIADMK. There have been several splits in both the DMK and the AIADMK, but since 1967 one of those two parties has held power in the state.
Demographics
Main article: Madras Presidency
Around 1609, the Dutch established a settlement in Pulicat, while the Danes had their establishment in Tharangambadi also known as Tranquebar. In 1639, the British, under the East India Company, established a settlement further south of Pulicat, in present day Chennai. In the late 18th century, the British fought and reduced the French dominions in India to Puducherry. Nizams of Hyderabad and the Nawabs of the Carnatic bestowed tax revenue collection rights on the East India Company for defeating the Kingdom of Mysore. After winning the Polygar wars, the East India Company consolidated most of southern India into the Madras Presidency coterminous with the dominions of Nizam of Hyderabad. Pudukkottai remained as a princely state.
Democratic India (1947 - present)
Srivilliputhur Andal Temple Tower, official symbol of the Government of Tamil Nadu
When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras State, comprising present day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh up to Ganjam district in Orissa, South Canara district Karnataka, and parts of Kerala. The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1969, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning "Tamil country". 50
Geography
Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 km2 (50,216 sq mi), and is the eleventh 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 union territory of Puducherry. The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula is located in Tamil Nadu. At this point is the town of Kanyakumari which is the meeting point of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean. The south boundary of India is Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
Topographic map of Tamil Nadu
The western, southern and the north western parts are hilly and rich in vegetation. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats and they both meet at the Nilgiri hills. The Western Ghats dominate the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain bearing clouds of the south west monsoon from entering the state. The eastern parts are fertile coastal plains and the northern parts are a mix of hills and plains. The central and the south central regions are arid plains and receive less rainfall than the other regions.
Tamil Nadu has a coastline of about 910 km (570 mi) which is the country’s third longest coastline. Tamil Nadu's coastline bore the brunt of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when it hit India, which caused 7,793 direct deaths in the state. Tamil Nadu falls mostly in a region of low seismic hazard with the exception of the western border areas that lie in a low to moderate hazard zone; as per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, Tamil Nadu falls in Zones II & III. Historically, parts of this region have experienced seismic activity in the M5.0 range. 51
Flora and fauna
Main articles: Wildlife of Tamil Nadu and List of birds of Tamil Nadu
There are about 2000 species of wildlife that are native to Tamil Nadu. Protected areas provide safe habitat for large mammals including elephants, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, gaurs, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri Langurs, Nilgiri Tahrs, Grizzled Giant Squirrels and Sambar deer, resident and migratory birds such as cormorants, darters, herons, egrets, Open-billed storks, Spoonbills and White Ibises, Little Grebes, Indian Moorhen, Black-winged Stilts, a few migratory Ducks and occasionally Grey pelicans, marine species such as the Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and Balanoglossus and a wide variety of fish and insects.
The endangered Lion-tailed Macaque is found in a few forests in southern India.
Indian Angiosperm diversity comprises 17,672 species with Tamil Nadu leading all states in the country, with 5640 species accounting for 1/3 of the total flora of India. This includes 1559 species of medicinal plants, 533 endemic species, 260 species of wild relatives of cultivated plants and 230 red-listed species. The Gymnosperm diversity of the country is 64 species of which Tamil Nadu has four indigenous species and about 60 introduced species. The Pteridophytes diversity of India includes 1022 species of which Tamil Nadu has about 184 species. Vast numbers of bryophytes, lichen, fungi, algae and bacteria are among the wild plant diversity of Tamil Nadu.
Common plant species include the state tree: Palmyra Palm, Eucalyptus, Rubber, Cinchona, Clumping Bamboos (Bambusa Arundinacea), Common teak, Anogeissus latifolia, Indian Laurel, Grewia, and blooming trees like Indian labumusum, Ardisia, and Solanaceae. Rare and unique plant life includes Combretum ovalifolium, Ebony (Diospyros nilagrica), Habenaria rariflora (Orchid), Alsophila, Impatiens elegans, Ranunculus reniformis, and Royal fern. 52
National and State Parks
Main article: Protected areas of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu has a wide range of Biomes extending east from the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in the Western Ghats through the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests and Deccan thorn scrub forests to tropical dry broadleaf forests and then to the beaches, estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs of the Bay of Bengal.
Kodayar Shola Forests in the Western Ghats of Kanyakumari District
The state has a range of flora and fauna with many species and habitats. To protect this diversity of wildlife there are Protected areas of Tamil Nadu as well as biospheres which protect larger areas of natural habitat often include one or more National Parks. The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve established in 1986 is a marine ecosystem with seaweed and sea grass communities, coral reefs, salt marshes and mangrove forests. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve located in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills comprises part of adjoining states of Kerala and Karnataka. The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve is in the south west of the state bordering Kerala in the Western Ghats. Tamil Nadu is home to five declared National parks located in Anamalai, Mudumalai, Mukurithi, Gulf of Mannar and Guindy located in the center of Chennai city. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Mukurthi National Park and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve are the tiger reserves in the state. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve has the largest elephant population in India. Besides these bio reserves, there are many state and central run wild life sanctuaries for tiger, elephant and birds.
Climate
A semi-arid wasteland near Tirunelveli. Monsoon clouds pour torrents of rain on windward-facing Kerala, but are prevented from reaching Tirunelveli by the Agasthyamalai Range of the Western Ghats (background).
Tamil Nadu is mostly dependent on monsoon rains, and thereby is prone to droughts when the monsoons fail. The climate of the state ranges from dry sub-humid to semi-arid. The state has three distinct periods of rainfall:
advancing monsoon period, south west monsoon from June to September, with strong southwest winds;
North east monsoon from October to December, with dominant north east winds;
dry season from January to May.
The annual rainfall of the state is about 945 mm (37.2 in) of which 48 per cent is through the north east monsoon, and 32 per cent through the south west monsoon. Since the state is entirely dependent on rains for recharging its water resources, monsoon failures lead to acute water scarcity and severe drought. 53
Tamil Nadu is classified into seven agro-climatic zones: north east, north west, west, southern, high rainfall, high altitude hilly, and Cauvery Delta (the most fertile agricultural zone). The table below shows the maximum and minimum temperatures that the state experiences in the plains and hills.
Governance and administration
State symbols of Tamil Nadu
Song Neerarum Kadaludutha.jpgInvocation to Goddess Tamil
Dance Bharatanatyam male.jpgBharathanattiyam
Animal Niltahr.jpgNilgiri Tahr
Bird Emerald dove444.jpgEmerald Dove
Flower Gloriosa Superba.jpgGloriosa Lily
Tree Palm Tamil Nadu.jpgPalm Tree
Sport Kabaddi.jpgSadugudu
Main articles: Government of Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu Legislature
The Governor is the constitutional head of the state while the Chief Minister is the head of the government and the head of the council of ministers. The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is the head of the judiciary. The present Governor, Chief Minister and the Chief Justice are Konijeti Rosaiah, J. Jayalalitha and Rajesh Kumar Agarwal 54 respectively. Administratively the state is divided into 32 districts. It has 10 city corporations, 125 municipalities, 529 town panchayats and 12,524 village panchayats. 55 56 Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the state capital. It is the fourth largest city in India and is also one of the eight Metropolitan cities of India. The state comprises 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and 234 Legislative Assembly constituencies.
Tamil Nadu had a bicameral legislature until 1986, when it was replaced with a unicameral legislature, like most other states in India. The term length of the government is five years, as is elsewhere in India. The present government run by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance came to power in 2011 and consists of a council of 33 ministers, headed by the Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly is housed at the Fort St. George in Chennai. The state had come under the President's rule rule on four occasions – first from 1976 to 1977, next for a short period in 1980, then from 1988 to 1989 and the latest in 1991.
The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli district is often listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world.
The local administration is divided into revenue administration and developmental administration. Revenue administrative units are classified based on the district. Each of the 32 districts in Tamil Nadu is divided into divisions, which are further divided to Taluks. 57 Each of these Taluks have a list of revenue villages under them. Tahsildar is the head of these Taluks. Developmental administration, in contrast, is carried out by Panchayat Unions (called blocks) in rural areas. These panchayat unions have a set of panchayat villages under them. In urban areas, the governance is done by municipal corporations, municipalities or town panchayats based on the size of the town. 57 Tamil Nadu has 10 municipal corporations: Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Erode, Thoothukudi and Vellore. Nagercoil and Thanjavur are soon going to be upgraded as the next two Municipal corporations.
Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering state of E-Governance initiatives in India. A large part of the government records like land ownership records are digitised and all major offices of the state government like Urban Local Bodies — all the corporations and municipal office activities – revenue collection, land registration offices, and transport offices have been computerised. Tamil Nadu is one of the states where law and order has been maintained largely successfully. 58 The Tamil Nadu Police Force is over 140 years old. It is the fifth largest state police force in India and has the largest strength of women police personnel in the country. 59 As of 2003, the state had a total police population ratio of 1:668, higher than the national average of 1:717. The current Director General of Police (law and order) of Tamil Nadu is K. Ramanujan. 60
Districts
Main article: Districts of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is subdivided into 32 districts, which are listed below. The numbers in the first column correspond to those on the map:
Districts of Tamil Nadu
District Headquarters Area Population
(2011) Population
density
1 Ariyalur Ariyalur 1,944 km³ 752,481 387 /km²
2 Chennai Chennai 174 km² 4,681,087 26,903 /km²
3 Coimbatore Coimbatore 4,642 km² 3,172,578 648 /km²
4 Cuddalore Cuddalore 3,705 km² 2,600,880 702 /km²
5 Dharmapuri Dharmapuri 4,527 km² 1,502,900 332 /km²
6 Dindigul Dindigul 6,054 km² 2,161,367 357 /km²
7 Erode Erode 5,692 km² 2,259,608 397 /km²
8 Kanchipuram Kanchipuram 4,305 km² 2,690,897 666 /km²
9 Kanyakumari Nagercoil 1,685 km² 1,863,174 1,106 /km²
10 Karur Karur 2,902 km² 1,076,588 371 /km²
11 Krishnagiri Krishnagiri 5,091 km² 1,883,731 370 /km²
12 Madurai Madurai 3,695 km² 2,441,038 663 /km²
13 Nagapattinam Nagapattinam 2,416 km² 1,614,069 668 /km²
14 Namakkal Namakkal 3,402 km² 1,721,179 506 /km²
15 Nilgiris Udagamandalam 2,552 km² 735,071 288 /km²
16 Perambalur Perambalur 1,748 km² 564,511 323 /km²
17 Pudukkottai Pudukkottai 4,652 km² 1,618,725 348 /km²
18 Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram 4,180 km² 1,337,560 320 /km²
19 Salem Salem 5,249 km² 3,480,008 663 /km²
20 Sivaganga Sivaganga 4,140 km² 1,341,250 324 /km²
21 Thanjavur Thanjavur 3,477 km² 2,302,781 661 /km²
22 Theni Theni 2,872 km² 1,143,684 397 /km²
23 Thoothukudi Thoothukudi 4,599 km² 1,738,376 378 /km²
24 Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli 4,508 km² 2,713,858 602 /km²
25 Tirunelveli Tirunelveli 6,709 km² 3,072,880 458 /km²
26 Tirupur Tirupur 5,192 km² 2,471,222 476 /km²
27 Tiruvallur Tiruvallur 3,552 km² 3,725,697 1,049 /km²
28 Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai 6,188 km² 4,121,965 667 /km²
29 Tiruvarur Tiruvarur 2,379 km² 1,268,094 533 /km²
30 Vellore Vellore 6,081 km² 4,028,106 671 /km²
31 Viluppuram Viluppuram 7,185 km² 3,463,284 482 /km²
32 Virudhunagar Virudhunagar 4,280 km² 1,943,309 454 /km²
Politics
Political
Alliance Assembly
(2011) Lok Sabha
(2009)
AIADMK+ 203 12
DMK+ 31 27
Independent/Other 0 0
Source: Election Commission of India. 61 62
Main articles: Elections in Tamil Nadu, Politics of Tamil Nadu, and Dravidian parties
Pre-Independent politicians and freedom fighters
Prior to Indian independence Tamil Nadu was under British colonial rule as part of the Madras Presidency. The main party in Tamil Nadu at that time was the Indian National Congress (INC). Regional parties have dominated state politics since 1916. One of the earliest regional parties, the South Indian Welfare Association, a forerunner to Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, was started in 1916. The party was called after its English organ, Justice Party, by it opponents. Later, South Indian Liberal Federation was adopted as its official name. The reason for victory of the Justice Party in elections was the non-participation of the INC, demanding complete independence of India.
The Justice Party which was under E.V.Ramaswamy was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (DK for short) in 1944. DK was a non-political party which demanded the establishment of an independent state called Dravida Nadu. However, due to the differences between its two leaders EVR and C.N. Annadurai, the party was split. Annadurai left the party to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to enter politics in 1956. In the 19th century, western scholars discovered that the Dravidian languages dominating southern India formed a different linguistic group than the Indo-Aryan languages predominant in northern India. They also classified Indians into distinct Aryan and Dravidian races. It was proposed that the generally darker-skinned Dravidians constituted a distinct race. This concept has affected thinking in India about racial and regional differences and had an impact on aspects of Tamil nationalism, which has appropriated the claim that Dravidians are the earliest inhabitants of India, and the Aryan population were oppressive interlopers from whom Dravidians should liberate themselves.
Fort St. Secretariat of the government of Tamil Nadu.
Post-Independent India
Re-organisation of Indian states according to linguistic and ethnic basis has moderated Tamil nationalism, especially the demand for separation from the Indian Union. The Anti-Hindi agitations in mid-1960s made the DMK more popular and a more powerful political force in the state. The DMK routed the INC in the 1967 elections and took control of the state government, ending INC's stronghold in Tamil Nadu. C.N. Annadurai became the DMK's first Chief Minister. Muthuvel Karunanidhi took over as Chief Minister and party leader after Annadurai's death in 1969. Karunanidhi's leadership was soon challenged by M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR. In 1972, he split from DMK and formed the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and later renamed the party as All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam. He was the Chief Minister of the state from 1977 until his death in 1987. After the death of MGR, AIADMK was defeated in 1989 assembly polls because of the split of the party into two factions headed by Janaki (wife of MGR) and Jayalalithaa. Later on J. Jayalalithaa took control of the party. She was elected as the General Secretary of the unified AIADMK. There have been several splits in both the DMK and the AIADMK, but since 1967 one of those two parties has held power in the state.
Demographics
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