Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras, is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. As per the 2011 Indian census, Chennai is the sixth-most-populous city in India and forms the fourth-most-populous urban agglomeration. The city is coterminous with Chennai district, which together with the adjoining suburbs constitutes the Chennai Metropolitan Area, one of the largest metropolitan areas of India. It is administered by the Greater Chennai Corporation, which was incorporated in 1688, and is the second oldest municipal corporation in the world after the City of London Corporation. Being the capital of the state, it houses major government institutions including the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and the Madras High Court.
Archeological evidence points to human settlements in the region during the Stone Age. Historically, from the 1st century CE, the region was part of the Chola, Pallava, Pandya, and Vijayanagara kingdoms during various eras. In 1639 CE, the British East India Company obtained a grant for a strip of coastal land which then contained the fishing village of Madrasapattinam. The British developed the Madras port and built Fort St. George, the first British fortress in India. The British was engaged in conflict with the French for the control of the city in the 18th century. By the late 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region and established the Madras Presidency with Madras as the capital. After India gained independence in 1947, Madras became the capital city of the Madras State, the predecessor to the present-day state of Tamil Nadu. The city was officially renamed as Chennai in 1996.
Chennai lies on the predominantly flat Eastern Coastal Plains, and experiences a tropical climate with high humidity. It receives most of the rainfall from Northeast monsoon with cyclones being common features during the season, resulting in water inundation and flooding in low-lying areas. As of 2023, Chennai had an estimated GDP of $143.9 billion, ranking it among the most productive metro areas in India. It has a diversified industrial base anchored by different sectors, and is amongst the top export districts in the country, with more than US$2563 billion in exports. It is ranked as a beta-level city in the Global Cities Index, and houses a major portion of India's automobile industry. The city has a well developed infrastructure, and is a major transportation hub. It is a major centre for medical tourism and is termed "India's health capital". It is ranked as the second-safest city in India by National Crime Records Bureau in 2023.
Chennai is home to a diverse population of ethno-religious communities, with a majority Hindu population (80.7%). The city houses nearly three million migrant population and has the third-largest expatriate population in India. Known as the gateway to South India, it is amongst the most-visited Indian cities by international tourists and was ranked 36th among the most-visited cities in the world in 2019 by Euromonitor. Tamil is the most widely spoken language, with Madras Bashai being a unique linguistic variation of Tamil spoken by people in the city. Chennai is a major centre for music, art and dance and is called the Cultural Capital of South India. The oldest buildings in the city date from the 6th to 8th centuries CE, and the city has buildings encompassing diverse styles of architecture developed during different time periods in history. It is a major film production centre and home to the Tamil-language film industry. In October 2017, Chennai was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) list.
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