Called the Queen of Hill Stations picturesque, green Udhagamandalam better known, as Ooty is the most popular hill station in the South. Located in the Western ghats at a height of 2240m, Udhagamandalam is the headquarters of the Nilgiris district where the two ghats ranges meet. Nature has been generous with this region, which is by far the most beautiful in the state. Apart from coffee and tea plantations, trees like confiers, eucalptus, pine and wattle dot the hillside in Udhagamandalam and its encirons. Summer temperature is rarely higher than 25°c with a minimum of 10°c and winter is are distinctly cooler with a high of 21°c and a low 5°c. Curiously enough, this slice of paradise remained unknown to the great southern dynasties and it took the British to discover it in the early 1800s. They were, however, not the first inhabitants of this land as a tribe called Todas had been living there long before the British came, claiming that the Nilgiris had been their home since time immemorial. But the credit for modernising Udhagamandalam and making it accessible goes to the British who constructed the first railway line in the area and made it the summer capital of the Madras Presidency.

Ooty with smaller hill stations of Coonoor - 19 kms and Kothagiri 31 kms from Ooty are the other hill stations of this district. Nilgiri is India 's first biosphere. It has been declared as one of the 14 'hotspots' of the world beavke of its unique bio-diversity. Nilgiri presents a truly breath taking kaleidoscope of visual treats and soul stirring

District Administration

The Nilgiris District comprises six Taluk viz., Udhagamandalam, Kundah, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Gudalur and Pandalur. These taluks are divided in to four Panchayat Unions viz., Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur besides two Municipalities, Wellington Cantonment and Aruvankadu Township. The District consists of 56 Revenue Villages and 15 Revenue Firkas. There are two revenue divisional in this district viz., Coonoor and Gudalur. There are 35 Village Panchayat and 13 Town Panchayat in this district.

Demographics

It had a population of 7,62,141 as of 2001 and is 59.65% urbanized. The district has a literacy of 81.44%, one of the highest in the state. There are several tribes living in the Nilgiris, whose origins are uncertain. The best known of these are the people, whose culture is based upon, and whose red, black and white embroidered , and silver is much sought after. The district is also home to the Paniya tribes and the.

Tamil is the principal language spoken in the Nilgiris. Many people speak and understan English & Hindi re also used to an extent. The Nilgiris is also home to the , spoken by the . The Badagas people, who number around 250,000, speak the . The language of is spoken in the western parts of the district where the Paniya tribes live. As per the 2001 Census, Hindus formed the majority of the population (78.60%), followed by Christians (11.45%), Muslims (9.55%) and others (0.4%).

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