1.The Land of Tamils

2. Tamil Nadu , a state in southern India is bordered with Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is regarded as the cradle of Dravidian culture with its cultural paraphernalia speckled all across the state in the form of magnificent temples, gateways, intricate carvings, and the society seeped in tradition. Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized state in India. The key industries of the state are heavy engineering and manufacturing-based companies and textiles. 3. Tamil Nadu is the southern most state of India, surrounded by Andhra Pradesh from the North, Karnataka and Kerala from the west, Indian Ocean from the south and Bay of Bengal from the East. Kanyakumari, the southern most point of India lies in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Eastern and Western Ghats run along eastern and western borders of the state and meet at Sittlingi in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. The Western Ghats, bordering Tamil Nadu, breaks only at two points - Palakkad and Shencottah, which connect the state with Karnataka and Kerala. 4. The Western Ghats, bordering Tamil Nadu, breaks only at two points - Palakkad and Shencottah, which connect the state with Karnataka and Kerala. Tamil Nadu roughly extends between the 8 04' N latitude (Cape Comorin) and the 78 0' E longitude. Geographically, Tamil nadu is situated on the eastern side of the Indian Peninsula between the northern latitude of 8.5" and 13.35" and the eastern longitude of 76.15" and 80.20". 5. Tamil Nadu is divided naturally between the flat country along the eastern coast and the hilly regions in the north and west. The broadest part of the eastern plains is the fertile Kaveri (Cauvery) River delta; farther south are the arid flatlands surrounding the cities of Ramanathapuram and Madurai . The high peaks of the Western Ghats run along the states western border. 6. Various segments of this mountain range including the Nilgiri, Anaimalai, and Palni hillshave peaks exceeding 8,000 feet (2,400 metres) in elevation. Anai Peak, at 8,842 feet (2,695 metres) in the Anaimalai Hills, is the highest mountain in peninsular India. The lower peaks of the Eastern Ghats and their outlierslocally called the Javadi, Kalrayan, and Shevaroy hillsrun through the centre of the region. 7. The climate of Tamil Nadu is tropical in nature with little variation in summer and winter temperatures. While April-June is the hottest summer period with the temperature rising up to the 40C mark, November-February is the coolest winter period with temperature hovering around 20C, making the climate quite pleasant. Surprisingly, Tamil Nadu gets all its rains from the North-east Monsoons between October and December, when the rest of Tamil Nadu remains dry. 8. There are about 2000 species of wildlife that are native to Tamil Nadu. Protected areas provide safe habitat for large mammals including elephants, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth, bears, gaurs, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri Langurs, Nilgiri Tahrs, Grizzled Giant, Squirrels and Sambar deer, resident and migratory birds such as cormorants, darters, herons, egrets, Open billed storks, Spoonbills and White Ibises, Little Grebes, Indian Moorhen, Black-winged stilit, a few migratory Ducks and occasionally Grey pelicans, marine species such as the Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and Balanaglossus and a wide variety of fish and insects. 9. Indian Angiospem diversity comprises 17,672 species with Tamil Nadu leading all states in the country, with 5640 species accounting for 1/3 of the total flora of India. This includes 1559 species of medicinal plants, 533 endemic species, 260 species of wild relatives of cultivated plants and 230 red-listed species. The Gymnosperm diversity of the country is 64 species of which Tamil Nadu has four indigenous species and about 60 introduced species. 10. Tamilnadu has a great tradition of heritage and culture that developed over 2,000 years ago and still continues to flourish. This great cultural heritage of the state of Tamilnadu evolved through the rule of dynasties that ruled the state during various phases of history. Many of the ruling dynasties gave patronage to art and culture that resulted into the development and evolution of a unique Dravidian culture that Tamilnadu today symbolizes with. 11. Under the rule of the Pallavas, Cholas and the Pandya kings, there were tremendous growth and development in the field of art, architecture and literature, which reached great heights. The history of Tamil language can be traced back to the age of the Tolkapiyam, the Tamil Grammar text, ascribed to around 500 B.C. Similarly, the Sangam literature dates back to 500 B.C. 12. Im a Tamilian. I belong from Tamil Nadu; that is why I chose this state. The Dravidians date back to ages and I want to know more about them. This state is rarely touched upon so I chose this state. 13.