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Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. It lies on the eastern coast of the southern Indian Peninsula bordered by Puducherry (Pondicherry), Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is bound by the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Palakkad on the west, Bay of Bengal in the east, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Strait in the south east and Indian Ocean in the south. It is the eleventh largest state in India by area (about the size of Greece) and the seventh most populous state.
It is the fifth largest contributor to India's GDP and the most urbanised state in India. The state has the highest number (10.56%) of business enterprises in India, remarkable compared to the population share of about 6%. It is one of the foremost states in the country in terms of overall development. It is home to many natural resources, rare flora and fauna, grand Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites and three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Tamil Nadu has an HDI of 0.736, significantly higher than the national average of 0.619 and closer to 0.800 which is considered high development.
Other Subjects of Tamilnadu
History of Tamilnadu
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| Madurai Temple |
Tamil Nadu's history dates back to pre-historic times and archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in India. In Adichanallur, 24 km from Tirunelveli, archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India unearthed 169 clay urns containing human skulls, skeletons and bones, plus husks and grains of rice, charred rice and Neolithic celts, giving evidence confirming them to be of the Neolithic period, 3800 years ago. The ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script is "very rudimentary" Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as an archaeological site for further excavation and studies.
An unknown dynasty called Kalabhras invaded and displaced the three Tamil kingdoms between the fourth and the seventh centuries CE. This is referred to as the Dark Age in Tamil history. They were eventually expelled by the Pallavas and the Pandyas.
Rule of Nayakas: As the Vijayanagara Empire went into decline after mid-16th century, the Nayak governors, who were appointed by the Vijayanagar kingdom to administer various territories of the empire, declared their independence. The Nayaks of Madurai and Nayaks of Thanjavur were most prominent of them all in the 17th century. They reconstructed some of the oldest temples in the country.
Vijayanagar Empire: These northern invasions triggered the establishment of Vijayanagara Empire in the Deccan. It eventually conquered the entire Tamil country (c. 1370 CE). This empire lasted almost three centuries.
Independence: When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras State, comprised of present day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh up to Ganjam district in Orissa, northern Karnataka, and parts of Kerala. The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1968, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning Land of Tamil.
Economy of Tamilnadu
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| Tidal Park |
Tamil Nadu's gross state domestic product for is estimated at 275,000 crores (70 billion USD) in current prices. The state experienced a GDP growth rate of 12.1% for this period. Possessing the third largest economy (2007-2008) among states in India, Tamil Nadu is also the most industrialised state in India. The per capita income for the period 2007 - 2008 for the state was Rs.43,000 ranking second among the South Indian states.
Annual Plan outlays have increased by a record 75% from Rs.52,000 million ($1,100 million) in 2001-2 to Rs.91,000 million ($2,000 million) in 2005-6. Based on URP - Consumption for the period 2004 - 2005, percentage of the state's population Below Poverty Line was 27.5%.
It ranks third in foreign direct investment approvals (cumulative 1991-2002) of Rs.225,826 million ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra (Rs.366,024 million ($8,100 million)) and Delhi (Rs.303,038 million ($6,700 million)and the State's FDI investment constitutes 9.12% of the total FDI in the country. Tamil Nadu was the winner of fDimagazine's Asian Region of the Future award 2005/06 in terms of FDIs, surpassing Australia's New South Wales. Unlike many other states, the economic resources are quite spread out, rather than concentrated in a small industrialised area. The overall unemployment is relatively low with 2.8% rural and 4.8% urban from CSI.
According to the 2001 Census, Tamil Nadu has the highest level of urbanisation (43.86%) in India, accounting for 6% of India’s total population and 9.6% of the urban population. and is the most urbanized state in India. Services contributes to 45% of the economic activity in the state, followed by manufacturing at 34% and agriculture at 21%. Government is the major investor in the state with 51% of total investments, followed by private Indian investors at 29.9% and foreign private investors at 14.9%. Tamil Nadu has a network of about 110 industrial parks and estates offering developed plots with supporting infrastructure. Also, the state government is promoting other industrial parks like Rubber Park, Apparel Parks, Floriculture Park, TICEL Park for Biotechnology, Siruseri IT Park, and Agro Export Zones among others.
Transportation System of Tamilnadu
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| Railway Station View |
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, Pondicherry, a small portion of Karnataka and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 5,952 km and there are 532 railway stations in the state. The system connects it with most major cities in India. Main rail junctions in the state include Chennai, Erode, Coimbatore, Madurai,Tiruchirapalli(Trichy)and Salem . Chennai has a well-established Suburban Railway network and is in the process of developing a metro.
Tamil Nadu has a major international airport, Chennai International Airport, that is connected with 19 countries with more than 169 direct flights every week.
Tamil Nadu has three major ports at Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin, as well as one intermediate port, Nagapattinam, and seven minor ports, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari, Cuddalore, Colachel, Karaikal, Pamban and Valinokkan which are currently capable of handling over 73 million metric tonnes of cargo annually (24 per cent share of India). All the minor ports are managed by the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board. Chennai Port is an artificial harbour situated on the Coromandel Coast in South-East India and it is the second principal port in the country for handling containers. Ennore Port was recently converted from an intermediate port to a major port and handles all the coal and ore traffic in Tamil Nadu. The volume of cargo in the ports grew by 13 per cent during 2005. The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project will transform the Tuticorin port into a transshipment hub similar to those in Singapore and Colombo. The ports are in need of improvement and some of them have container terminals privatised.
Tamil Nadu has a well established transportation system that connects all parts of the state. This is partly responsible for the investment growth in the state. Tamil Nadu is served by an extensive road network, providing links between urban centers, agricultural market-places and rural areas. There are 24 national highways in the state, covering a total distance of 2,002 km. The state is also a terminus for the Golden Quadrilateral project that is scheduled to be completed in 2008. The state has a total road length of 167,000 km, of which 60,628 km are maintained by Highways Department. This is nearly 2.5 times higher than the density of all-India road network. It is currently working on upgrading its road network, though the pace of work is considered slow.
Culture of Tamilnadu
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| Decorated Elephant |
Tamil Nadu was the home of several Hindu movements not in the usual mainstream. These include Shankara's Advaita, Ramanuja's Vishistadvaita, Alwar Vaishnavism, Nayanar Shaivism, Several important Hindu Tamil figures became important figures for Hinduism as a whole (e.g., Shankara and Ramanuja.) In modern times, worldwide important figures for Hinduism were Ramana Maharishi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Other saints known more locally to Hindus within India are Raghavendra Swami the Dvaita Vaishnava, Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda or the Nithyananda Foundation, Sivananda the expert of yoga and Vedanta.
Muslims are mainly concentrated in areas like Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Nagore, Melapalayam and Keelakarai, with the state capital Chennai also home to a good number of Muslims.
Popular forms of God include Vishnu, Shiva and Murugan (son of Shiva), although many other forms are also worshiped These other forms of God include, Rama, Krishna, Ganesh, Paravati, Surya, and others. There is even a temple dedicated to the form of Hanuman and Ganesh in one form - Adianta Prabhu. The government emblem of Tamil Nadu contained the popular Hindu temple of Thiruvilliputhur.
Christians and Muslims form roughly over 11% of the population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. St. Thomas Mount in Chennai, the place where St. Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, was believed to have been martyred, is an important pilgrimage site for Indian Christians. The Santhome Basilica, supposedly built atop the tomb of St. Thomas, and the Vailankanni Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health — revered churches by the Catholics in India — are good examples of majestic church architectures in Tamil Nadu. The Church of South India is headquartered in Chennai.
Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form originating from Tamil Nadu. Bharatanatyam is thought to have been created by Bharata Muni, a Hindu sage, who wrote the Natya Shastra, the most important ancient treatise on classical Indian dance. In ancient times it was performed as dasiattam by Hindu temple Devadasis. In this form, it as also been called sadir or chinna melam. Many of the ancient sculptures in Hindu temples are based on Bharata Natyam dance postures. Bharatanatyam is a traditional dance-form known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses. It continues to be a popular and widely performed dance style at present times and is practised by male and female dancers all over India. Therukoothhu (street dance) is a folk tradition of dance-drama.
Government and Politics of Tamilnadu
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| Assembly of Kerala |
Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering state in E-Governance initiatives in India. A large part of the government records like land ownership records are already 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, thereby improving the quality of service and transparency in operations.
TN government has also announced that Tirupur will be the new headquarters of the Tirupur district which will be formed by splitting the Coimbatore and Erode district.
The Tamil Nadu Police Force is over 140 years old. It is the fifth largest state police force in India. The administrative control of Tamil Nadu Police vests with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who holds the portfolio of Home Minister. The supervision and coordination of Police is done by the Home Department, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. The Force is headed by the Director General of Police. The State is divided into 4 police zones - North, Central, West and South. Each zone is headed by one Inspector General of Police. In each of the six metropolitan cities of Tamil Nadu, the City Police force is headed by a Commissioner of Police. These cities are Greater Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Tirunelveli. There are thirty police districts in Tamil Nadu, each headed by a Superintendent of Police. In each City and District, the Commissioner of Police / Superintendent of Police has, besides the civil police force, an armed reserve of police personnel. One Deputy Inspector General of police supervises the work of 2–3 districts, which constitute a Police Range. There are eleven ranges in Tamil Nadu. The special units of Tamil Nadu Police perform specific functions related to security, intelligence, criminal investigations and support services. Tamil Nadu has a police population ratio of 1 : 632. The Tamil Nadu Police force is regarded as one amongst the best in the country. Tamil Nadu is one of the states where law and order has been maintained largely successfully. Over the years, there has been a gradual decrease in the number of crimes registered.
Tamil Nadu had a bicameral legislature until 1986, when it was replaced with a unicameral legislature, like most other states in India. 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 S. S. Barnala, M. Karunanidhi and A. k. Ganguly respectively.The major administrative units of the state constitutes 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, 234 Assembly constituencies, 31 districts, 10 municipal corporations, 145 municipalities, 561 town panchayats and 12,618 village panchayats. Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the state capital. It is the fourth largest city in India and is also one of the five A1 Metropolitan cities of India.
Education System of Tamilnadu
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| University |
Tamil Nadu has performed reasonably well in terms of literacy growth during the decade 1991-2001. The state's literacy rate increased from 62.66% in 1991 to 73.47% in 2001. which is well above the national average. A survey conducted by the Industry body Assochaam ranks Tamil Nadu top among Indian states with about 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in primary and upper primary education.
The Mid-day Meal Scheme program in Tamil Nadu, initiated by Kamaraj, was expanded considerably during the rule of the AIADMK in 1983. It feeds over a fifth of the state's population.
Tamil Nadu has performed reasonably well in terms of literacy growth during the decade 1991-2001. The state's literacy rate increased from 62.66% in 1991 to 73.47% in 2001. which is well above the national average. A survey conducted by the Industry body Assochaam ranks Tamil Nadu top among Indian states with about 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in primary and upper primary education.
While India ranked 128 in human development index calculated worldwide with 0.619, Tamil Nadu has performed well with an index of 0.736 in year 2006, only 0.041 less than 81 ranked China. HDI is calculated using measures including population, sex ratio, density of population, per capita income, people below poverty Line, infant mortality rate, literacy rate and women's empowerment. The life expectancy at birth for males is 65.2 years and for females it is 67.6 years. However, it has a number of challenges, significantly, the poverty is high, especially in the rural areas. As of 2004-2005, the poverty line was set at Rs. 351.86 / month for rural areas and Rs. 547.42 / month for urban areas. Poverty in the state had dropped from 51.7% in 1983 to 21.1% in 2001 For the period 2004-2005, the Trend in Incidence of Poverty in the state was 22.5% as against the national figure of 27.5%. The World Bank is currently assisting the state in reducing poverty High drop-out and low completion of secondary schools continue to hinder the quality of training in the population. Other problems include class, gender, inter-district and urban-rural disparities.
Geography of Tamilnadu
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| Geography |
Tamil Nadu has a coastline of about 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) which forms about 18% of the country’s coastline (third longest). Tamil Nadu's coastline bore the brunt of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when it hit India, which left behind 7,793 dead in the state. Tamil Nadu falls mostly in a region of low seismic hazard with the exception of 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.
Tamil Nadu is dependent heavily 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:
(1) Advancing monsoon period, South West monsoon (from June to September), with strong southwest winds
(2) North East monsoon (from October to December), with dominant northeast winds
(3) Dry season (from January to May).
The normal annual rainfall of the state is about 945 mm (37.2 in) of which 48% is through the North East monsoon, and 32% 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. 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.
Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 square kilometres (50,216 sq mi),and is the eleventh largest state in India. West and North of the state has lofty hills while the East and South are coastal plains. The bordering states are Kerala to the west, Karnataka to the northwest and Andhra Pradesh to the north. To the east is the Bay of Bengal. 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.
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