GEOMORPHOLOGY

Situated at the south-eastern extremity of the Indian Peninsula, Tamil Nadu is bounded on the north by the State of Karnataka and the State of Andhra Pradesh, on the south by the Indian Ocean, on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the west by the State of Kerala. It has a coast line of 620 miles and a land boundary of 750 miles. With an area of 129, 900.6 square kilometers, it is the eleventh State in area forming 4.08 per cent of the Union areas. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Madras Presidency formed one of the most extensive of British territories in India. It stretched from Cape Comorian, the southern top of the Indian Peninsula, halfway up the east coast of Bengal. Tamil region, the homeland of the Tamils, occupies the southern-most region of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. The Tamil districts of the Presidency were Chingleput, North Arcot, South Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Trichinoply, Tanjore, Madurai, Ramnad and Tinnevelly. When reorganization of the States was made in 1956, regional adjustments were done and the State of Madras was created on November 1, 1956, as a lingual state with Tamil as its language. Due to its high cosmopolitan nature, the demand for getting its name changed into Tamil Nadu could not be achieved until 1969. In that year, the State of Madras was officially renamed as the State of Tamil Nadu.