20 Interesting Facts About Chennai

Interesting Facts About Chennai

Facts About Chennai

  1. Chennai was the first city in India to have a vast network of Wi-Fi.
  2. Chennai is the automobile capital of India, referred to as the Detroit of South Asia. 
  3. The Vandalur Zoo sited in Chennai was set up in 1855 and it is the first public zoo in India and also the largest one in the country.
  4. Chennai Central prison is the oldest prison in India.
  5. The name Chennai is of Telugu origin. It was derived from the name of a Telugu ruler, Damarla Mudirasa Chennappa Nayakudu, father of Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, a Nayak ruler who served as a general under Venkata III of the Vijayanagar Empire from whom the British acquired the town in 1639.
  6. Chennai is home to the world’s second-largest beach, Marina Beach.
  7. As of 2018, the city had a green cover of 14.9 per cent, against the World Health Organization recommendation of 9 square meters of green cover per capita in cities.
  8. Chennai is renowned for Bharatnatyam, the famous and one of the oldest classical dance forms in India, which originated in Tamil Nadu.
  9. In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai. At that time many Indian cities underwent a change of name.
  10. As of 2017, there are more than 2.2 million households, with 40 per cent of the residents not owning a house.
  11. Chennai is the only city in India that was attacked during World War.
  12. Chennai is also known as the ‘Gateway to South India’.
  13. Chennai is twinned with: Volgograd, Russia; Denver, United States of America; San Antonio, United States; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Chongqing, China & Ulsan, South Korea.
  14. The estimated population of Chennai is around 10 million, as of 2020.
  15. Chennai is located on the southeastern coast of India in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu on a flat coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal Plains. Its average elevation is around 6.7 metres (22 ft),  and its highest point is 60 m (200 ft).
  16. Chennai is classified as being in Seismic Zone III, indicating a moderate risk of damage from earthquakes.
  17. Chennai is divided into four broad regions: North, Central, South, and West.
  18. The city is served by two major ports, Chennai Port, one of the largest artificial ports in India, and Ennore Port.
  19. Chennai is one of four Indian cities connected to the rest of the world by undersea fibre-optic cables, the other three being Mumbai, Kochi, and Tuticorin.
  20. Chennai is one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Smart Cities Mission.
Interesting Facts About Chennai
Interesting Facts About Chennai
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