Salem

The name Salem appears to have been derived from Sela or Shalya which are found in inscriptions referring to the country around the hills. Local folklore believes Salem to be the birthplace of the Tamil poetess Avvaiyar[citation needed]. Inscriptions from the Ganga dynasty have been recovered from parts of the district.Salem along with Coimbatore remained under the Madurai Nayaks. Later, in the early 18th century, it came under Hyder Ali after a long feud know as the Mysore-Madurai war. Salem was then taken from Hyder Ali by Colonel Wood in the beginning of 1768. It was recaptured by Hyder towards the end of the year 1772. Under Lord Clive in 1799, it was again occupied by a detachment of the regiment stationed at Sankari Drug (pronounced as droog) and remained a military station until 1861 when the troops were altogether withdrawn.Many great personalities including Salem Ramasamy Mudaliar, C. Vijayaraghavachariar, Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) and Dr. P. Subbarayan started their political careers in Salem.

Salem is located at 11.669437° N 78.140865° E.It has an average elevation of 278 metres (912 feet).

Salem had a population of 693,236. In 2006, the population of the city is estimated to have over 8.4 lakhs. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Salem has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 65%. In Salem, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.The population figures shown in the census for Salem are given excluding many important suburbs like Kondalampatti, Kannankurichi, Malla Moopanpatti etc. which have been included within the Salem City Municipal Corporation limits

Some of the original forests continue to exist in the Yercaud hills and contain several endemic species of plants and fauna. The Yercaud hills have many faunal and floral similarities to the Western Ghats.Wild life includes bison, deer, rabbits, hares, foxes, mongoose, squirrels, partridges, snakes, bulbuls, kites, sparrows, swallows and the bird of paradise.