Chennai is located near the 13th north parallel and 80 degree longitude. The city stretches its 19 km length along the Coromandel coast and extends inland about 9 km at its widest. Its irregular shape covers about 172 sq km. It is a fairly low-lying strip of land, its highest point being only 60 m above sea level. Chennai is trisected by two east-flowing rivers that traverse its width. The Cooum river almost divides the city into half and the Adyar river divides the southern half of the city into two. The historic buckingham canal runs nearly parallel to the coast almost through the entire length of the city.

The Gateway to the South, Madras, the first city of Tamil Nadu, is a comparatively new city. The erstwhile villages of Mylapore, Triplicane, Ezhambur (Egmore) etc., all now a part of Madras, have a recorded historical past centuries older than Madras

Everywhere one goes in Madras, one can find history written in every name. Particularly charming features of Madras are its allegiance to ancient traditions, no matter how modernised it has become, and its willingness to spread out further rather than develop into a multi-storey concrete jungle. The result is a widespread city still open to the skies; a green, airy city with several vestiges of its rural past; a city that adheres to the leisurely tempo of the life of a world of yesterday; a city whose values of another day still survive midst the humdrum bustle of today; a city that still retains the charm, culture and courtesies of the ages

It started with a strip of golden seashore on the east coast of India where Fort St. George now stands. A place of time-honoured memories, it grew to engulf many adjoining villages which even today stand isolated in their individual glory. Chennai is a city of extremes. On the plushy side, it is the trend-setter of Fashion. You will see a market place teeming with people of different culture baffling in the diversity of merchandise offered. Travel a few kilometers and you will find yourself in a rural pocker, complete with mud roads, thatched huts, wandering cattle and deserted ancient temples for village deities - a place of conventional beauty. It is indeed a different world with a different slant.T

Tamil Nadu has etched a name for itself in the manufacture of cotton textile and its leading position in this area is well known not only in India but the world over. The state contributes to more than 22% of the country’s exports of cotton yarn and fabrics. The exports of cotton textile in 1999-2000 was US $ 4.0 billion and it had reached US $ 5.0 billion by the end of 2001-2002 AD. USA, UK, France and Germany are among the principal buyers of cotton textile from Tamil Nadu. Approximately 22% of India’s exports of ready-made garments originates from Tamil Nadu. In actual terms it translates to around US $ 1.5-2.0 billion of garments being exported from the state, the two main centres being Chennai (Madras) and Tirupur. In fact, Tirupur has emerged strongly as a major industrial township. As a consequence, several important spin-off industries have emerged in the neighbouring regions - the textile machinery industry is one such off-shoot.

While Tamil Nadu continues to maintain a commanding position in this industry, many international corporates, are looking towards the state as a global sourcing point for readymade garments with an eye on the comparatively low production costs and high quality of output offered.