State of India
Tamil Nadu
तमिल नाडुTamil Nadu is a state of India. It covers about 131,000 km² (50,500 mi²), the 10th largest of the 36 states and union territories in Natural Earth’s file for India, and about the same size as Greece. About 72.1 million people live there (Wikidata, 2011).
200 km
- Greece
- Tamil Nadu
Facts
| Area, measured | 131,000 km²50,500 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 130,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of India | 4.1%of the area of the 36 states and union territories |
| Rank by area | 10th of 36states and union territories of India |
| Population | 72.1 millionWikidata, 2011 |
| Density | 552 people per km² |
| Capital | Chennai |
| Latitude range | 8°N to 14°N |
| Type | StateIN-TN |
What the numbers say about Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu covers 4.1% of the area of India and ranks 6th of 36 by population, against 10th by area.
- It would take 24.1 states and union territories the size of Tamil Nadu to cover India.
- The largest, Rajasthan, is 2.63× the size of Tamil Nadu; the smallest, Lakshadweep, is less than 0.1% of it.
- Closest in size within India: Chhattisgarh (135,000 km², 1.03×) and Telangana (115,000 km², 1.14×).
- Counted as a country, Tamil Nadu would be larger than 142 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 98th by area, between Greece (131,000 km²) and Nicaragua (129,000 km²).
- With 72.1 million people it would rank 20th of 238 by population.
- Tamil Nadu has 552 people per km², about the density of the Comoros, which has 540 per km².
- That makes Tamil Nadu the 11th most densely populated of the 36 states and union territories, 1.38× the average for India (400 per km²).
- Tamil Nadu lies at 11°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, Tamil Nadu stretches about 607 km north to south and 447 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 130,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 131,000 km², to within 2%.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaAnhui0.93× · 140,000 km²PeopleHebei0.97× · 74.6 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaNorth Carolina1.02× · 128,000 km²PeopleCalifornia1.82× · 39.5 million (2020)
- GermanyAreaBavaria1.87× · 70,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- FranceAreaNouvelle-Aquitaine1.54× · 85,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- SpainAreaCastile and León1.38× · 94,800 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)1.66× · 78,800 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- BrazilAreaAmapá0.94× · 139,000 km²PeopleSão Paulo1.62× · 44.4 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNew Brunswick1.80× · 72,800 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- AustraliaAreaVictoria57% · 228,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- MexicoAreaDurango1.08× · 121,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
Where Tamil Nadu sits in India
All 36 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Compare Tamil Nadu
- Greece vs Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu vs Nicaragua
- Bangladesh vs Tamil Nadu
- France vs Tamil Nadu
- United Kingdom vs Tamil Nadu
- Anhui vs Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu vs North Carolina
- Tamil Nadu vs Mississippi
- Victoria vs Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu vs New Brunswick
- Amapá vs Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu vs Durango
- Tamil Nadu vs Castile and León
- Tamil Nadu vs Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2011. India’s units share the 2011 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12