UPSC GENERAL SCIENCE-- TAMIL NADU

Ø The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri hills. The Western Ghats traverse the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain bearing clouds of the south west monsoon from entering TAMIL NADU..

Ø Tamil Nadu has a coastline of about 910 km (570 mi) which is the country's third longest coastline. There are only 9 Indian States that have Coastlines. The total length of coastline of India including the coastlines of Lakshwadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea and Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal is 7517 km. While the length of Coastline of Indian mainland is 6100 km. The state in India with the largest coastline is Gujarat. Andhra Pradesh is the second state having largest coastline. Goa is the state having smallest coastline in India.

Ø 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. 

Ø Tamil was the very first language to be recognised as a classical language of India.. Languages thus far declared to be Classical are Tamil (in2004),Sanskrit (in2005), Telugu (in2008),  Kannada (in 2008), Malayalam (in 2013), Oriya (in 2014).

Ø Pongal or Makara Sankranti elsewhere in India, a four-day harvest festival is one of the most widely celebrated festivals throughout Tamil Nadu.

Ø Tamil Nadu is the second most industrialised state in India. It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991–2002) of ₹ 225,826 million ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra and Delhi constituting 9.12 per cent of the total FDI in the country

Ø According to the 2011 Census, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in India (49 per cent)

Ø Tamil Nadu's sugarcane yield per hectare is the highest in India. The state has 17,000 hectares of land under oil palm cultivation, the second highest in India.The state accounts for 70 per cent of leather tanning capacity in India and 38 per cent of leather footwear and components.

Ø the city of Coimbatore  is termed as "Manchester of South India". It is home to textile, automotive spare parts and motor pump manufacturing units. City of Tirupur is the country's largest exporter of 70% of knitwear

Ø The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site connecting Ooty on the hills and Mettupalayam in the foot hills which is in turn connected to Coimbatore city

Ø Tamil Nadu has three major seaports located at Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin, as well as seven other minor ports including Cuddalore and Nagapattinam.^[98] Chennai Port is an artificial harbour situated on the Coromandel Coast and is the second principal port in the country for handling containers. Ennore Port handles all the coal and ore traffic in Tamil Nadu.