The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is divided into 38 districts. Districts are the major administrative divisions of a state and are further sub-divided into smaller taluks. During the British Raj, 12 districts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency had their boundaries within the present-day Tamil Nadu. Post the Indian Independence in 1947 and the political intergration, the Madras Province inherited parts of the earlier Madras Presidency. Following the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1950, the Madras State was formed, which was further reorganized in 1953 and 1956. After the reorganization of Indian states in 1956, the state had 13 re-organized districts, which were further divided later over the years. Between 1960 and 1980, three additional districts were formed. In the late eighties, five more districts were bifurcated from existing districts. Ten more districts were formed in the nineties, taking the total count to 30. Three new districts were bifurcated in the 2000s. In 2019-20, five more districts were formed for a total of 38 districts.

History

Before 1947

During the British Raj, the Madras Presidency was made up of 26 districts, 12 of which were part of the boundaries of the present-day Tamil Nadu, namely, Chingleput, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Madras, Madura, Ramnad, Salem, South Arcot, Tanjore, Tinnevely, and Trichinopoly.

1947–56

After the Indian Independence on 15 August 1947, the Madras Presidency became the Madras Province of the Dominion of India. The princely state of Pudukottai acceded to the Indian Union on 4 March 1948 and was made as a part of the Trichinopoly district. When the new Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, the Madras Province became the Madras State of the Republic of India. The Madras State included most of the present-day Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the present-day Andhra Pradesh, the Malabar region of the present-day Kerala, Bellary and South Canara districts of the present-day Karnataka. The Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions were separated to form the new Andhra State in 1953. As a result of the re-organization of states in 1956, South Canara and Bellary districts were merged with Mysore State, which became Karnataka and the Malabar district was added to the State of Travancore-Cochin to form Kerala. The Tamil speaking regions of Kanyakumari, which were earlier part of Travancore-Cochin, were merged to the Madras State. After the reorganisation, the Madras state had 13 districts namely: Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli.

1957–89

1990–99

2000–present

List of districts

Active districts

Former districts