Chennai, city, southeastern India, capital of Tamil Nadu State, on the Bay of Bengal. One of the principal ports of India, the city has a large artificial harbor from which leather goods, peanuts, and raw cotton are exported. Located on the Coromandel Coast, a low and sandy region, the city is the commercial and manufacturing center of the surrounding area with chemical plants, tanneries, and textile mills. Places of interest include the University of Madras (1857) and the Cathedral of San Thomé, said to have been built over the burial place of the Apostle Thomas. Madras was founded in 1639 by the East India Company. The city grew up around the English settlement of Fort Saint George and gradually absorbed the surrounding towns and villages. Population (1991) 3,841,396.
