Geography
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Chennai is located near the 13th north parallel and 80 degree longitude. It is 19Km long and goes along the Coromandel coast overlooking the Bay of Bengal, and extends inland about 9Km at its widest. The city has grown around three waterways: the Adyar river, the Cooum river and the Buckingham canal. People belive that when these rivers begin to 'move', the city will prosper. Right now they are mostly full of sludge. The face of Chennai, as it emerges from the outline map, looks like that of a man with a hooked nose, the coastline being the back of his head! This 'face' covers an area of about 172 sq.km which is largely low-lying. But with the city expanding rapidly and people constantly travelling from one end to the other for various purposes, perhaps it makes sense to include the outer reaches of the city which gives it a surface area of about 400 sq.km, or a length of approximately 43Km and a width of about 29Km. The townships of Madhavaram, Manali and Tiruvottriyur lie along the northern limits, Ambattur, Avadi and Poonamallee are on the west, and in the south are Tambaram, Perungalathur and Vandalur.
All along the city's coastline are beaches, some private and some protected, where you can collect colourful shells and chase crabs, and where the Olive Ridley comes to nest between November and March. The joke is that Chennai has three seasons – hot, hotter and hottest, which is true to some extent. Temperatures peak in summer, especially between April and June and can hover around 400 C. In fact, 15 days at the height of summer are known as katri, the 'time of the dog star' when it is boiling hot. At other times temperatures are around 300 C and in the cooler season, in December – January, day temperatures hover around 240 C. Chennai’s heat is humid and this can be sitting. But the city has its own remedy, a brilliant one that comes in the shape of the sea breeze which cools and comforts, especially if you are under a shady tree. Even in the most crowded areas such as Triplicane and Georgetown, there are corridors where you get the most fantastic breeze. The Chennai monsoon is from October to December from the northeast, although it can get some spillover from the southwest a little earlier. Typically the monsoon is very wet and this makes the air moist. That is why some early morning or late night walkers cover their heads and ears, or even wear a monkey cap to prevent catching a chill. Time Zone : IST (UTC+5.30) Area : 625km2 (241 sq.mi) Coastline : 100Km (62 mi) Population Density(2006) : 14,197 / Km2 (37,547 / sq mi) The Coromandel coastThree mighty oceans meet at the tip of Tamil Nadu at Kanyakumari; the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The sands of the Arabian Sea have a reddish tinge, the sands of the Indian Ocean are white and grainier, and the sands of the Bay of Bengal have fine black lacing. This black sand called kari manal in Tamil, is what led to the coast being called 'Coromandel'
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The elegant buildings of the Madras University rising from the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal – this is the universal image of Chennai, as soaring skyscrapers rising from the Arabian Sea is the visual representation of Mumbai.
The population of Chennai, including its suburbs, is over 10million. And even though at ground zero it seems large-scale construction is decimating its green cover, you can still see some greenery. At one time this region was full of coconut and mango trees.
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