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Tamil Nadu
People & Culture
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| Tamil, the official state language, is spoken by most of the
people. Telugu is spoken by almost 10 percent of the
population; Kannada, Urdu, and Malayalam are spoken by much
smaller percentages.
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The area's population has changed little over the centuries,
largely representing the ancient Dravidian ancestry indigenous
to southern India. Most of the hill tribes exhibit affinities
with certain Southeast Asian people.
Tamil, the official state language, is spoken by most of the
people. Telugu is spoken by almost 10 percent of the
population; Kannada, Urdu, and Malayalam are spoken by much
smaller percentages. In the Nilgiri district in the west,
Kannada (and its dialect Baaga) and Malayalam are stronger.
English is spoken as a subsidiary language.
The main religions in the state are Hinduism, Christianity,
Islam and Jainism. Hindus constitute an overwhelming majority
of the population. The largest concentration of Christians is
in Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts. Jains are confined
to North and South Arcot and Chennai city. The growth of
atheism is a recent development, possibly as a protest against
Brahmin ritualism.
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Although Tamil Nadu is one of the most urbanised states of
India, it is still primarily rural. Most of the people live in
more than 64,000 nucleated villages. In Tamil Nadu, as in the
rest of the country, the caste system is still strong, even
though discrimination has been banned by the constitution of
India. The poorest low-caste villagers live in segregated
areas called ceri. The Chennai metropolitan covering
industrial areas, townships and villages surrounding Chennai
city, has the largest population but there are other
conurbations, of which those around Madurai, Coimbatore, and
Tiruchchirappalli are the most important.
Compiled by Puneet Sachdeva
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Editor: Romola Butalia Site Presented by Media Trails © India Travelogue
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