Cuddalore

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Cuddalore (Tamil: கடலூர் Kaṭalūr [ kaɖəlu ː ​​r], French Gondelour, formerly also: Cudulur ) is a port city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu with around 174,000 inhabitants ( 2011 census ). It is the administrative seat of the district of Cuddalore.

Cuddalore is just a little inland from the Coromandel coast, about 20 kilometers south of Pondicherry and 160 kilometers south of Chennai. The city is crossed by Gadilam which opens shortly thereafter in the Bay of Bengal.

Even in antiquity, Cuddalore was an important port city. In the late 17th century, the British acquired the harbor and built south of the city, the Fort St. David. From 1746 to the temporary capture by the French in 1758, in the wake of the Seven Years' War, was Cuddalore administrative headquarters for the possessions of the British East India Company on the Coromandel Coast. After Madras took over this function, the climb to the main British base in South India, while Cuddalore increasingly lost importance. 1782 was the Fort St. David for three years, again in French hands.

Today, the Port of Cuddalore only for coastal shipping plays a role as a shipping port it is virtually meaningless. The city's economy is dominated by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In addition, fishing and shipbuilding are of some importance.

In December 2004, a tsunami taught as a result of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean to wreak havoc in the harbor and the fishing beaches outside the city. At least 572 people were killed.