Kanniyakumari district is the smallest district in Tamil Nadu. Even though it is the smallest in terms of area (1672/Sq.Km), the density of population is the highest 1119/Sq.Km in Tamil Nadu next to Chennai. In literacy it stands first. By its very location, the District occupies a unique place amongst the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is the only place in the entire world where one can witness both the rising and setting of the sun. It has a coastal line of 71.5 kms stretched on the three sides. This small district is famous on its vast green stretches of paddy fields, coconut groves, Rubber garden and luxurious forests and the rare earth of the western sea shore and stretched valley mountain of the Western Ghats.
Kanniyakumari District is named after the goddess ‘KANYAKUMARI’. The District lies at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula, where Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal confluence.
The District is bound by Tirunelveli District on the North and the east. The South Eastern boundary is the Gulf of Mannar. On the South and the South West, the boundaries are the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. On the West and North West it is bound by Kerala.
The District is purely Agriculture oriented and its economy solely depends on Agricultural production. It is industrially very backward indeed. Based on the Topography, the District can divided into three, mountainous terrain, plain lands and undulating valley.
In the hilly tracks of Western Ghats plantation crops like rubber, coffee, tea, spices, coconut, tapioca and horticultural crops like mango, pineapple and jack fruits are raised, where as in the plain lands, paddy, banana, coconut and vegetables are grown. Paddy is the most essential food crop of the District and it’s extensively cultivated in 12957 (Gross) hectares. Among the commercial crops, rubber, coconut cashew and pepper occupy the major area. Dams, Government Canals, Canals fed with tank are the major sources of irrigation. Kodayar, Pattanamkal, Neyyar are the main systems of the District
Next to Agriculture, people are engaged in fishing. A meager 1% of the population is engaged in handloom weaving. Coir manufacturing is also to be mentioned. Palmgur production is almost dwindled in view of scarce palmyrah climbers and reduced palmyrah crop area in this district. As a majar source of private sector of employment more than 30000 female employees are employed in the cashew nut processing of roasting, shelling, peeling and grading.
Kanniyakumari district has many tourist spots, which can be classified as places of interest for religious tourism, historical tourism, man made attractions, nature tourism such as water falls, bird watching and wild life sanctuaries, medical tourism and heritage tourism.
Kanniyakumari district has so many temples including Bagavathi Amman Temple in Kanniyakumari. Thanumalayan Temple in Suchindrum, Nagaraja Temple in Nagercoil, Valvachagostam Temple in Kattathurai, Kumarakoil in Velimalai, BagavathiAmmankovil in Mandaicadu, Neelakandaswamy Temple and TnevarattuSaraswathy Amman Temple in Padmanabhapuram, VaikundaThalamaipathy etc.
Similarly the Chitharal Jain Temple in Kuzhithurai, Catholic Churches, Our Lady of Ransom in Kanniyakumari, St.Xavier’s in Kottar, KathadimalaiDevashayam Church in Aralvaimozhi, St. Mary’s Church in Thiruvithancode, Home Church in Nagercoil, London Mission Church in Myladi, CSI Church in Marthandam and Peer Mohammad OlliyullahDurgah in Thuckalay are the places where thousands of tourists from various parts of the country used to visit daily.
Historical monuments of Udayagiri Fort, Tomb of Delenoy, padmanabhapuram Fort and Palace of Vattakottai and man made attractions like Clock Tower in Nagercoil, Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari, Gandhi Mandapam, KamarajarManimandapam, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Pechiparai, Perunchani, Mukkadal Dam and Mathur Hanging Bridge and Economic Tourism such as Olakkay Water Falls, Thirparappu Falls, Wild Life Sancturies and Beach Tourism are Kanniyakumari, Vattakottai, Chothavilai, Sanguthurai, Kovalam, Muttom and Thengapattanam. The major Tourist generating Countries to Kanniyakumari district are United Kingdom, United States of America, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, Canada, Australia and Singapore.
A Hydro Electric Power Generating Project is located in Kodayar and wind Mill Energy generated at Aralvaimozhi supplement the energy needs of this district.
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yhb9KR6hDt9XmXpSQi7oMKR68MWHSd77/view?usp=sharing