| Districts of Tamil Nadu | |
| Map: | Tamil Nadu districts map.svg |
| Category: | Districts |
| Territory: | Tamil Nadu |
| Current Number: | 38 districts |
| Population Range: | Perambalur – 565,223 (lowest); Chennai – 7,139,630 (highest) |
| Area Range: | Chennai – 426km2 (smallest); Dindigul – 6266.64km2 (largest) |
| Government: | Government of Tamil Nadu |
| Subdivision: | List of revenue divisions in Tamil Nadu |
| Caption: | Districts of Tamil Nadu |
The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is divided into 38 districts. Districts are the major administrative units of a state which are further sub-divided into taluks. There were 13 districts in the erstwhile Madras Province the boundaries of the present-day Tamil Nadu. Post the reorganization in 1956, Madras state had 13 re-organized districts which was further divided in the later years.
See also: Administrative divisions of Madras Presidency. Before 1947, Madras Presidency under British Raj was made up of 26 districts, of which 12 districts were part of the boundaries of the present-day Tamil Nadu, namely, Chingleput, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Madras, Madura, Ramnad, Salem, South Arcot, Tanjore, Tinnevely, and Trichinopoly.[1]
After Indian Independence, the Madras Presidency] became the Madras Province on 15 August 1947. Pudukottai, a princely state acceded to the Indian Union on 4 March 1948 and became a division in Trichinopoly district.[2] When the new constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, Madras Province became Madras State. Madras state included most of the present-day Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema of Andhra Pradesh, the Malabar region of Kerala, Bellary and South Canara districts of Karnataka.[3] Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema were separated to form Andhra State in 1953.[4] As a result of the re-organization of states in 1956, South Canara and Bellary districts were merged with Mysore State to form Karnataka and Malabar district with the State of Travancore-Cochin to form Kerala in 1956.[5] The Tamil speaking regions of Kanyakumari which was earlier a part of Travancore-Cochin was merged to Madras state.[5] Madras state had 13 districts namely: Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli.[6]
| District | Span | Successor districts | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chingleput | 1956–98 | Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur | ||
| North Arcot | 1956–89 | |||
| South Arcot | 1956–93 | Cuddalore, Villupuram and Kallakurichi |