Chennai From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Madras" redirects here. For other uses, see Madras (disambiguation). Chennai ?????? Madras Metropolis Clockwise from top right: Chennai Central, Marina Beach, Madras High Court, TIDE L Park, Ripon Building, San Thome Basilica, Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Classical dan ce Bharata Natyam and Valluvar Kottam. Clockwise from top right: Chennai Central, Marina Beach, Madras High Court, TIDE L Park, Ripon Building, San Thome Basilica, Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Classical dan ce Bharata Natyam and Valluvar Kottam. Chennai is located in Tamil Nadu ChennaiChennai Location of Chennai in Tamil Nadu Coordinates: 13°5'N 80°16'ECoordinates: 13°5'N 80°16'E Country India India State Tamil Nadu District Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur[A] Former name Madras Native Languages Tamil Established 1639 Government Type MayorCouncil Body Chennai Corporation Mayor Saidai Duraisamy[1] Deputy Mayor P. Benjamin Corporation Commissioner Vikram Kapur Police Commissioner T.K. Rajendran[2] Area[3] Metropolis 426 km2 (164.8 sq mi) Metro 1,189 km2 (426 sq mi) Elevation 6 m (20 ft) Population (2011)[4] Metropolis 6,727,000 Rank 5th Density 16,000/km2 (41,000/sq mi) Metro[5] 8,653,521 Metro rank 4th Demonym(s) Chennaiite, Madrasi Time zone IST (UTC+05:30) Pincode(s) 600001 to 600130 Area code(s) +91-44 Vehicle registration TN-01 to TN-14, TN-18, TN-22, TN-85 UN/LOCODE IN MAA Official language Tamil Spoken languages Tamil, English Website Chennai Corporation Jump up ^ The Chennai metropolitan area also includes portions of Kanchipuram an d Tiruvallur districts adjoining the Chennai District. Chennai /'t??nna?/ (also known as Madras Listeni/m?'dra?s/) is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay o f Bengal, it is the biggest industrial and commercial center in South India,[6] and a major cultural, economic and educational centre. Chennai is known as the " Detroit of India" for its automobile industry.[7] It is the fifth-largest city a nd fourth-most populous metropolitan area[8] in the country and 36th-largest urb an area[9] in the world. The city is host to the third-largest expatriate population in India after Mumba i and Delhi, with 35,000 in 2009 and steadily climbing to 82,790, in 2011.[10][1 1] Chennai is the only city in South Asia and India to figure in the "52 places to go around the world" by The New York Times.[12][13][14] Tourism guide publish er Lonely Planet has named Chennai as one of the top ten cities in the world to visit in 2015.[15] Chennai is ranked as a beta-level city in the Global Cities I ndex [16] and was ranked the best city in India by India Today in the 2014 annua l Indian city survey.[17][18] The city was ranked 38 worldwide, by the number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2012. It Is also home for various popular personali ties and home to IT startups. Chennai has also been named in the "hottest" citie s to live in for 2015 by BBC among global cities with a mixture of both modern a nd traditional values.[19] National Geographic ranked Chennai as world's 2nd bes t food city and Chennai was the only Indian city to feature in the list.[20] Che nnai was also named as the 9th best cosmopolitan city in the world by Lonely Pla net.[21] With diverse industries such as healthcare, shipping, finance, informat ion technology,automobiles,Chennai has become the hub for one of the best employ ment opportunities in the country attracting immigrants from all over India maki ng it the second industrial capital of India. The healthcare offered continues t o be the best in India with approximately 1500 international patients per day co mbining both government as well as private hospitals. .The Chennai Metropolitan Area as recently as January 2015 has been ranked the fourth-largest economy in I ndia, and the third highest GDP per capita.[22] Contents [hide] 1 Toponymy 2 History 3 Environment 3.1 Geography 3.2 Geology 3.3 Flora and fauna 3.4 Environment Conservation 3.5 Climate 4 Administration 4.1 Law and order 4.2 Politics 4.3 Utility services 5 Architecture 6 Demographics 7 Housing 8 Arts and culture 8.1 Museums and art galleries 8.2 Music and performing arts 9 Cityscape 9.1 Tourism and hospitality 9.2 Entertainment 9.3 Recreation 9.4 Shopping 10 Economy 10.1 Communication 10.2 Power 10.3 Banking 10.4 Health care 10.5 Waste management 11 Transport 11.1 Air 11.2 Rail 11.3 Road 11.4 Sea 12 Media 13 Education 14 Sports and recreation 14.1 City based teams 15 International relations 15.1 Foreign missions 15.2 Sister cities 16 See also 17 Footnotes 18 References 19 Bibliography 20 External links Toponymy[edit] The origin of the word Chennai is disputed. There are two different theories for the origin of the name Madraspattinam and C hennaipattinam: The first theory is that it was derived from the fisherman village landlord Muth urasan palayakara naicker who gave land for St. George fort, East India Company and the name of a ruler Damal Chennappa Nayagar, a Nayakar of Vandavasi who serv ed as a general under Sriranga Deva Raya of the Aravidu Dynasty[23] father of Da mal Venkatadri Naicker, from whom the English acquired the town in 1639. The fir st official use of the name Chennai is said to be in a sale deed, dated 8 August 1639, to Francis Day of the East India Company.[24] The second theory states th at it was named after the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple; the word Chenni in Tamil means face, with the temple regarded as the face of the city.[25] The name Madras originated even before the British presence was established in I ndia.[26] Multiple explanations attempt to account for the city's colonial name, Madras: allegedly derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing-village north of Fort St George .[27] However, it is uncertain whether the name "Madraspattinam" was in use befo re the arrival of European influence.[28] the military mapmakers believed Madras was originally Muthu-raju, Muthurasu or a bbreviatedly, Mudiraju.[29] other arguments suggest that the Portuguese, who arrived in the area in the 16th century, named the village Madre de Deus, meaning Mother of God. another possibility sees the village's name coming from the prominent Madeiros f amily of Portuguese origin, which consecrated the Madre de Deus Church in the Sa nthome locality of Chennai in 1575. another theory concludes that the name Madras was given to Chennapattanam after it was taken from a similarly named Christian priest.[30] other parties express the opinion that Madras might have taken its name from a f isherman by the name of Madrasan from religious Muslim schools, referred to as Madrasahs from the word Madhu-ras, which means "honey" in Sanskrit.[31] In 1996 the state government officially changed the name to Chennai. At that tim e many Indian cities underwent a change of name.[31][32] However, the name Madra s continues in occasional use for the city,[33] as well as for places named afte r the city, such as the University of Madras, the Indian Institute of Technology , Madras and Madras Medical College (MMC). History[edit] See also: History of Chennai and Timeline of Chennai history Clive House at Fort St. George, Madras said to be the first English settlement i n India during 1609 Surrender of the City of Madras in 1746 to de La Bourdonnais, by Jacques François Joseph Swebach St.Thomas Mount, Chennai View of Madras from the harbor, 1895 An 18th-century portrait depicting Fort St. George, the first major English sett lement in India and the foundation stone of Chennai Stone age implements have been found near Pallavaram in Chennai. According to th e Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Pallavaram was a megalithic cultural est ablishment, and pre-historic communities resided in the settlement.[34] The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, a nd economic centre for many centuries. During 1st century CE, a poet and weaver named Thiruvalluvar lived in the town of Mylapore (a neighbourhood of present Ch ennai).[35] From the 1st-12th century the region of present Tamil Nadu and parts of South India was ruled by the Cholas.[36] The Pallavas of Kanchi built the areas of Mahabalipuram and Pallavaram during th e reign of Mahendravarman I. They also defeated several kingdoms including the C heras, Cholas and Pandyas who ruled over the area before their arrival. Sculpted caves and paintings have been identified from that period.[37] Ancient coins da ting to around 500 BC have also been unearthed from the city and its surrounding areas. A portion of these findings belonged to the Vijayanagara Empire, which r uled the region during the medieval period.[38] The Portuguese first arrived in 1522 and built a port called São Tomé after the Chri stian apostle, St. Thomas, who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70 CE. In 1612, the Dutch established themselves near Pulicat, north of C hennai.[39] On 22 August 1639, which is referred to as Madras Day, the English East India Co mpany under Francis Day bought a small strip of land stretching 3 miles on the C oromandel Coast. They got a license to build a fort and a castle in the contract ed region.