List of districts of Tamil Nadu

The South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, also India's southernmost state, is bordered by the Union territory of Puducherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Chennai (formerly known as Madras) is the capital of Tamil Nadu. The state is divided into 37 districts.

History
After the Indian independence in August 1947, the former British province of Madras Presidency was renamed Madras State. Following states reorganizations in 1953 and 1956, the present state boundaries emerged. It was officially renamed Tamil Nadu in 1967. In 1956, Madras State was made up of 13 districts: Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madura, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramnad, Salem, South Arcot, Tanjore, Tinnevely and Trichinopoly. Since then, the districts have been divided as follows:

 1966: Dharmapuri district split from Salem district
 1974: Pudukkottai district split from Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts 
 1979: Erode district split from Coimbatore district
 1985: Virudhunagar and Sivaganga districts split from Ramanathapuram
 1985: Dindigul district split from Madurai district
 1986: Thoothukudi split from Tirunelveli district
 1989: Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts split from North Arcot district (District ceased to exist)
 1991: Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts split from Thanjavur district
 1993: Cuddalore and Viluppuram districts split from South Arcot district (District ceased to exist)
1995: Karur and Perambalur districts split from Tiruchirappalli district
 1996: Theni district split from Madurai district
 1997: Namakkal district split from Salem district
 1997: Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts split from Chingleput district (District ceased to exist)
 2004: Krishnagiri district split from Dharmapuri district
 2007: Ariyalur district split from Perambalur district
 2009: Tiruppur district split from Coimbatore and Erode districts
 2019: Tenkasi district split from Tirunelveli district
 2019: Kallakurichi district split from Viluppuram
 2019: Tirupattur and Ranipet districts split from Vellore district
 2019: Chengalpattu district split from Kanchipuram district
2020:Villupuram district split from Villupuram district

Districts of Tamil Nadu

See also
 List of developmental administrative units of Tamil Nadu state
 List of revenue divisions in Tamil Nadu
List of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index

References 

Tamil Nadu
Districts