Abstract

Madras State as in 1955 consisted of the following thirteen districts, Chinglepet, North Arcot, South Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore, Tanjore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Ramanathapuram Tirunelveli, Nilgiris, Malabar and South Kanara. It lies between longitudes 80 and 73 and latitudes 9 and 13. The total area of the State is about 38,500,000 acres and the total population is 42 millions. Rice is the staple food of the majority of the population with millets occupying the second place. The State is bound by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian sea borders the coast line on the west in the districts of Malabar and South Canara. No part of the State is very far from the sea and the climate on the whole is equable. The temperature in the interior districts may record of 100° to 105° in the height of summer while in the Coastal districts a maximum temperature near about 100° is normal. The west coast districts of Malabar and South Kanara enjoy an annual rainfall of about 100 tc 150 inches while the east coast and the interior districts get an annual precipitation of about 30 to 40 inches only. In the Western region the rainfall is received mainly in the South West Monsoon (June tc September) while in the rest of the state the North East Monsoon (October to December) is more important. Rainfall has had profound influence on the type of soil which has developed in an regions of the state.

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