LOCATION AND AREA 

Tirunelveli, the name has been composed from the three Tamil words i.e. "Thiru-Nel-Veli" i.e. "Scared paddy Hedge". This district is fertile on account of the River Tambaraparni. In most parts of Tirunelveli Kattabomman District, paddy is the main (cultivation) crop. On the whole the district looks green always. The district is bounded on the north by Kamarajar district, on the east by V.O. Chidambarnar district, and Travancore areas of Kerala State and Kanniyakumari district on the west. The southern side is bounded by the Gulf of Mnnar. In the west, hills of the western ghats ranging from 1000 to 2000 metres form the dominant boundary.

COMMUNICATIONS

 The district has adequate communication facilities by road, railand sea. the road transport is mainly operated by the state owned Kattabomman Transport corporation. 168 routes were being operated by Private Transporters and Kattabomman Transport Corporation respectively These figures include the city town bus routes also. The district is linked by rail. It is fed by the following rail routes : (i) Tirunelveli - Nagercoil/Kanniyakumari (ii) Madras - Tirunelveli (iii) Tirunelveli - Shencottah (iv) Tirunelveli - Tiruchchendur Tirunelveli- Nagercoil - Kanniyakumari is the new broad gauge line operating from January' 81. Other lines are in metre gauge. In addition to passenger services, the goods trains are also under operation.

INDUSTRIES 

Though the main occupation of the people is cultivation in recent year's industries and services are also competing with this ancient occupation. M/s. India Cements of Talaiyutthu, Co-operative Spinning Mills situated at pettai near Tirunelveli and other spinning mills in Ambasamudram and Tuticorin, Sun Paper Mill of Cheranmahadevi are a few large scale industrial units functioning. Limestone is a major industrial mineral found in the district and the requirements of M/s. India Cement, Talaiyuthu with a capacity of 2550 tonnes per day are met from the crystalline limestone deposit located around Tirunelveli. There are large reserves of limestone of the crystalline, sedimentary, corraline and tufaceous types amounting to 59 million tonnes in the Nanguneri, Ambasamudram, Sankarankoil and Tenkasi taluks. Alluvial gypsum occurs in the Sankarankoil taluk. the mineral is being utilised chiefly of cement manufacture. While and buff coloured siliceous clay occur with lithomarge around Tisayanvilai in nanguneri Taluk. Although a reserve of 5 million tonnes has been estimated in these area the clays have been found unsuitable for use in the ceramic, paper and other industries due to the non-plastic and highly ferruginous and siliceous nature. Heavy mineral placer sands consisting of ilumenite and associated minerals occur in the district in the Nanguneri taluk along the coast. Garnet sands occur widely in the Ovari navaladi area where a reserve of 23000 tonnes has been estimated. Other occurrences containing ilmennite, magnetite, rutile, sillimanite, onazite and garnet occur near the mouths of Vaippar and Vembar where a total reserve of 35000 tonnes of ilmenite has been estimated. Since the reserves are limited, there is no scope for the establishment of a mineral separation plant in the area. the garnet sands are being mined and utilised for polishing optical glasses. A deposit of graphite containing about 1350 tonnes occurs near Kuuinjakulam near Sankarankoil, but is not of economic significance. Other minor occurrences have also been recorded near Panagudi, therku Kallikulam and Vijayanarayanam in the Nanguneri taluk. The occurrence of cat's eye chrysoberyl used as a gemstone has also been located by the State Geology Branch in Mudavankulam and Kanakkankulam in nanguneri taluk. The industries prevalent in the district may be classified under (i) household industries (ii) small scale and (iii) medium and large scale industries. Beedi rolling, safety-matches making, mat weaving and processing and manufacture of palm fibre and articles from palm trees and handloom weaving of textiles are the main household industries. Workers in household industries are concentrated mostly in Tenkasi, Ambasamudram and Tirunelveli taluks. Safety matches are manufactured mainly in Sankarankoil and Sivagiri taluks. Hondloom weaving is prominent in Ambasamudram and Tenkasi taluk. Beedi rolling and mat weaving are chiefly found in Tenkasi, Ambasamudram and Tirunelveli taluks. Manufacture of articles from palm trees in mainly found in Nanguneri taluk where large areas are covered by palmyrah trees. There are about 2300 small scale industries. Of all the 18 major groups, units manufacturing chemical products alone account for nearly one third. Next comes the manufacture of food products, Under food products salt industry form about one third of the total number of registered units under food products. The chief items produced by large scale industries in the district are cement, cotton yarn, textiles, chemicals and chemical products. M/s. India Cements Limited are having two plants, one in Sankarnagar and another in Thalayuthu for producing cement. The production of "Portland Cement" in 1979 was more than 13 lakhs of tonnes. There are more than 20 textile mills situated in this district for the production of yarn. The first spinning mill under co-operative moment was established in this district during 1958 at Pettai near Tirunelveli. Most of them are situated in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, and Nanguneri taluks. Tamil Nadu Sugar Corporation Limited has established a factory at Tirunelveli which has a capacity to crush 1250 tonnes of cane a day.

EDUCATION 

Three polytechnics, one Engineering college and one Medical college are functioning in this district. The ratio of Higher Secondary schools is 0.54 Secondary schools 0.65 middle schools 1.49 and Primary schools 3.31 for every 10000 urban population in tirunelveli district. The Nellai Sangeetha Sabha is one of the oldest Sabhas for promoting fine arts in this district. there are many libraries run by local bodies and private institutions. the people of this district are very much interested in improving the Tamil Literature and have formed associations for this purpose. UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES, 1996 Sri Parasakthi College for Women, Autonomous courtallam, tirunelveli Kattabomman. Pope's college, Sawyerpuram, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. Sadakathulla Appa College, Palayamkottai, tirunelveli Kattabomman. Sarah Tucker College, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. Rev. John Thomas College of Education for Women, Meignanapuram. Temnelveli. Pasumpon Muthuramalinga thevar college, Melaneelithanallur, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. Rajas Dental College, Vedakankulam, Tirunelveli. Tirunelveli Medical College, S A Raja College of Pharmacy, Vedakankulam, Terunelveli. Ambai Arts College, ambasamudra, Tirunelveli Manonmania Sundaranar University, University Campus Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli. Government Arts College for Women, Tirunelveli. Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli. Indian Engineering college Vadakkankulam, Tirunelveli. National Engineering College Nalattinputhus, Tiruneveli. St. Ignatius Training College for Women, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli. The Indian Engg. college, Vadakkangulam, Tirunelveli. Pasumpon Muthuramalinga College, Melaneeliphanalloor, Tirunelveli. M D T Hindu College, Tirunelveli. V O Chidambaram College, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. V O Chidambaram College of Education, Tuticorin, tirunelveli Kattabomman. St. Ignatius College of Education, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. St. John's College, Palayamkottai, tirunelveli Kattabomman. St Xavier's College (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. St.Xavier's College of Education, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. The Madurai diraviyam Thayumanavar Hindu College, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. St. Mary's college, Tuticorin, tirunelveli Kattabomman. Tirunelveli Dakshina Mara Nadar Sangam college, T Kalikulam, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. Sri Kumara Gurpara Swamigal, ARts College, Srivaikuntam, Tirunelveli Kattambomman. Sri Paramkalyani College, Alwarkurichi, Tirunelveli Kattabomman. Mookambigai college of Engineering, Pudukkottai, Tirunelveli Kattabomman.

TOURISM 

The district has many interesting places like Kuttalam famous for its waterfalls and health resort, large ancient temples of Tirunelveli etc. 2400 temples are listed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (A) Department, of which about 1500 are assessed by the department. More than 50 per cent of these temples are located in the taluks of Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram and Tenkasi. Out of the total of 2400 temples, village deities account for 1300; Vinayakar 500 and the rest by Murugan, Siva, Vishnu and others. Important temples of this district are : 1. Tirunelveli Sri Nellayappar and Gandhimathy temple 2. Kuttalam Sri Kntralanathaswamy temple 3. Sankarankoil SRi Sankaranarayanaswamy temple Sri Sankaranarayanaswamy temple 4. Tenkasi Sri Kasiviswanathaswamy temple 5. Veerakeralam- Sri Navaneethakrishnan temple pudur Sri Nellayappar and Ganthimathy temple of Tirunelveli is one of the biggest and famous temples in the state. The name of the district is said to be called after the name of the presiding deity of this temple. The remaining temples are also famous and the annual income of these temples is more than a lakh. Kuttalam is the main plances of tourist importance of this district. Waterfalls in Kuttalam is a famous health resort. The waterfalls from a height of 91 metres. The season for the falls are from June to September every year, where there will be drizzles and a bath at the falls is said to be very good for the body.