Editing Tamil Nadu (section)

=== Geography ===
{{Main|Geography of Tamil Nadu}}
[[File:Tamil Nadu topo deutsch mit Gebirgen.png|thumb|Topographic map of Tamil Nadu]]

Tamil Nadu covers an area of {{convert|130058|sqkm|sqmi|abbr=on}} and is the tenth-largest state in India.<ref name="DG"/> Located on the south-eastern coast of the [[Indian peninsula]], Tamil Nadu is straddled by the [[Western Ghats]] and [[Deccan Plateau]] in the west, the [[Eastern Ghats]] in the north, the [[Eastern Coastal Plains]] lining the [[Bay of Bengal]] in the east, the [[Gulf of Mannar]] and the [[Palk Strait]] to the south-east, and the [[Laccadive Sea]] at the southern [[Cape (geography)|cape]] of the peninsula.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers's Concise Gazetteer of the World|page=353|year=1907|publisher=W.& R.Chambers|first=David|last=Patrick}}</ref> Politically, Tamil Nadu is bound by the Indian states of [[Kerala]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Andhra Pradesh]], and the [[union territory]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]].  It shares an international [[maritime border]] with the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern Province]] of [[Sri Lanka]] at [[Pamban Island]]. The [[Palk Strait]] and the chain of low sandbars and islands known as [[Rama's Bridge]] separate the region from [[Sri Lanka]], which lies off the southeastern coast.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Adam's bridge|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003680|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2007|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=13 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113002452/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003680|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/srilanka.pdf|title=Map of Sri Lanka with Palk Strait and Palk Bay|publisher=UN|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117132426/http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/srilanka.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The southernmost tip of mainland India is at [[Kanyakumari (town)|Kanyakumari]] where the Indian Ocean meets the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/tamil-nadu/kanyakumari-cape-comorin|title=Kanyakumari alias Cape Comorin|publisher=Lonely Planet|access-date=1 January 2016|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103130726/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/tamil-nadu/kanyakumari-cape-comorin|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Western Ghats Gobi.jpg|thumb|left|[[Western Ghats]] traverse along the western border of Tamil Nadu]]

The Western Ghats run south along the western boundary with the highest peak at [[Doddabetta]] ({{convert|2636|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}) in the [[Nilgiri Hills]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6772/fig_tab/403853a0_T6.html|title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities|journal=Nature|year=2000|doi=10.1038/35002501|access-date=16 November 2013|last1=Myers|first1=Norman|last2=Mittermeier|first2=Russell A.|last3=Mittermeier|first3=Cristina G.|last4=Da Fonseca|first4=Gustavo A. B.|last5=Kent|first5=Jennifer|volume=403|issue=6772|pages=853–858|pmid=10706275|bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M|s2cid=4414279|archive-date=9 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009072333/http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6772/fig_tab/403853a0_T6.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58540809|title=Southern India: its history, people, commerce, and industrial resources|last1=Playne|first1=Somerset|last2=Bond|first2=J. W|last3=Wright|first3=Arnold|year=2004|publisher=Asian Educational Service|oclc=58540809|access-date=30 August 2023|page=417|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331152850/https://search.worldcat.org/title/58540809|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Eastern Ghats]] run parallel to the Bay of Bengal along the eastern coast and the strip of land between them forms the [[Coromandel Coast|Coromandel]] region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Eastern-Ghats|title=Eastern Ghats|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=2 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702092046/https://www.britannica.com/place/Eastern-Ghats|url-status=live}}</ref> They are a discontinuous range of mountains intersected by [[Kaveri River|Kaveri river]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes|year=2020|isbn=978-0-128-16097-8|publisher=Elsevier Science|first1=Dominick A.|last1=DellaSala|first2=Michael I.|last2=Goldstei|page=546|location=Amsterdam}}</ref> Both mountain ranges meet at the [[Nilgiris (mountains)|Nilgiri]] mountains which run in a crescent approximately along the borders of Tamil Nadu with northern Kerala and Karnataka, extending to the relatively low-lying hills of the Eastern Ghats on the western portion of the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh border.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eagan|first=J. S. C|title=The Nilgiri Guide And Directory|url=https://archive.org/details/nilgiriguideandd031416mbp|publisher=S.P.C.K. Press|location=Chennai|isbn=978-1-149-48220-9|year=1916|page=30}}</ref> The [[Deccan plateau]] is the elevated region bound by the mountain ranges and the plateau slopes gently from west to east resulting in major rivers arising in the Western Ghats and flowing east into the Bay of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Journal of Earth Sciences|publisher=Indian Journal of Earth Sciences|first=Mihir|last=Bose|year=1977|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://era-india.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ERA-East-Deccan-Moist-Deciduous-forests.pdf|title=Eastern Deccan Plateau Moist Forests|publisher=Ecological Restoration Alliance|access-date=5 January 2007|archive-date=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603083113/https://era-india.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ERA-East-Deccan-Moist-Deciduous-forests.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jadoan|first=Atar Singh|title=Military Geography of South-East Asia|publisher=Anmol Publications|date=September 2001|isbn=978-8-126-11008-7}}</ref> The [[coastline of Tamil Nadu]] is {{convert|1076|km|abbr=on}} long, and is the second longest state [[coastline]] in the country after [[Gujarat]].<ref name=Info>{{cite web|url=http://iomenvis.nic.in/index3.aspx?sslid=882&subsublinkid=111&langid=1&mid=1|title=Centre for Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Shelter Belt|publisher=Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University Chennai|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110439/http://iomenvis.nic.in/index3.aspx?sslid=882&subsublinkid=111&langid=1&mid=1|url-status=live}}</ref> There are [[coral reef]]s located in the Gulf of Mannar and Lakshadweep islands.<ref>{{cite book|title=Coral Reefs of the World: Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Gulf|year=1988|page=84|publisher=United Nations Environment Programme|first1=Martin|last1=Jenkins}}</ref> Tamil Nadu's coastline was permanently altered by the [[Indian Ocean tsunami]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://www.gdrc.org/uem/disasters/disenvi/tsunami.html|title=The Indian Ocean Tsunami and its Environmental Impacts|publisher=Global Development Research Center|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=11 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211164107/http://www.gdrc.org/uem/disasters/disenvi/tsunami.html|url-status=live}}</ref>