Chennai, India

Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is one of the biggest cultural, economic and educational centres in South India. According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the fifth-largest city and fourth-most populous urban agglomeration in India.

Representing the Dravidian Civilization, the interesting city of Chennai upholds the music, drama, dance, architecture, arts and crafts and sculpture etc of India. Chennai was mainly the result of the historical accident and the strategic necessity. With temples, beaches and centres of historical and cultural significance, including the UNESCO Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram, Chennai is one of the most visited cities in India. The city serves as the gateway to the southern part of India with tourists landing in the city and starting their trip to the rest of the region. Chennai was the most visited Indian city by foreign tourists in 2009 and issued the third highest number of visas on arrival in 2014. In 2011, Chennai was ranked 41st in global top 100 city destination ranking, with 3,174,500 tourists, a 14 percent increase from 2010.

Chennai besides acting as the cultural and educational hub of South India has also been the cradle of several historic movements. Today it is a leading city in terms of trade and commerce. The Chennai economy has a huge industrial base in technology, cars, manufacturing, hardware and health industry. The revenue and the employment sectors of the city are very advanced.

Connectivity

The Chennai International Airport is the fourth busiest in India in terms of passenger traffic. It handled about 15.2 million passengers in 2013–2014.

Chennai hosts the headquarters of the Southern Railway. The city has four main railway terminals. Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Beach and Tambaram.

Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city and was partially commenced on 29 June 2015.

Chennai is one of the cities in India that is connected by the Golden Quadrilateral system of National Highways.