Madras City (called by the natives Chennapatnam) is situated on the Coromandel Coast in 13° 4' N. lat. and 80° 17' E. long., and is the capital of the presidency of the same name. The town extends along the shore for a distance of 9 miles, and covers an area of about 27 sq. m. Originally it consisted of a number of separate villages, which are now united into a single municipality, administered by a president, two vice-presidents, and thirty-two non-official commissioners, of whom twenty-four are elected by the ratepayers and eight nominated by government. The roadstead, in which till quite recently all ships had to lie, is very much exposed, and on the approach of a cyclone all vessels put out to sea. A pier was erected in 1859-62. A harbour begun in 1876 was seriously damaged in 1881, and the construction of the harbour was being carried on in 1890, but it is questionable whether it will ever be safe for ships to remain in it during a heavy storm. It already, however, greatly facilitates the landing of cargo during rough weather, and passengers have no longer to cross the surf in going to or coming from steamers. A marked feature of this part of the coast is the heavy surf which rolls in, even in comparatively calm weather. In ordinary weather the surf breaks about 300 feet from the shore, and the wave is of no great height; but in stormy weather there are two lines of surf, the outer one being some 1000 feet from the shore with a wave of 12 to 14 feet high. The ordinary surf can be crossed with safety by the native massulah boats, which are formed of planks sewn together with string, but no boat can lie through the surf in a cyclone. The port is liable to be visited by these storms at two seasons—towards the end of May and beginning of June, when the south-west monsoon sets in, and in October, November, and the early part of December, during the prevalence of the north-east monsoon. Cyclones are rare at other times. The climate of Madras may be described as hot and moderately dry. The annual rainfall averages 49 inches, falling on ninety-five days, but during the seventy-four years ending with 1889 it varied from 88½ inches in 1827 to 18½ inches in 1832. The mean temperature for the year is 82° F., varying from 76° in December and January to 88° in June. During the hot months the temperature frequently rises above 100°, but the mean maximum in no month exceeds 99°. The mean annual range is 48°. The highest temperature recorded in the twenty-seven years ending with 1889 was 112.9° and the lowest 57.6°. The heat of the hot season is greatly modified by a sea-breeze, which often sets in soon after noon and blows till sunset. On the whole the climate is a healthy one.
On the shore, midway between the north and south extremities of the town, is Fort St George, the original settlement. This fort (built 1750) still contains the council chamber, a number of government offices, and barracks for the European troops. North of the fort lies Black Town, which contains most of the business offices and a crowded native population; south of it lies Triplicane, the chief Mohammedan centre. Inland and to the extreme south lie the houses chiefly occupied by Europeans, most of which stand in large 'compounds' or parks, surrounded by trees. Though Madras cannot compete with either Calcutta or Bombay in the magnificence of its public buildings, it contains some that are worthy of note. Amongst these may be mentioned Government House, the Chepauk Palace, the Senate House, St Andrew's Kirk, St George's Cathedral (containing a monument by Chantrey to Bishop Heber), the Madras Club, the post and telegraph office, and the new High Court buildings. Many of the buildings are rendered specially striking by the free use of polished chunam made from shell lime. The Madras University, founded in 1857, is simply an examining body, the teaching being done by affiliated colleges throughout the presidency. Some idea of the work done by the university may be gathered from the fact that in 1888-89 there were 7433 candidates for matriculation, 576 for the degree of B.A., 163 for the degree of B.L., and smaller numbers for the other degrees. In addition to colleges for the study of arts, medicine, and engineering, there are, in or near the city, a School of Art, a College of Agriculture, a branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and a large museum, containing, amongst other things, very valuable collections of Indian coins and of sculptured marbles from the Buddhist 'tope' at Amravati. Madras is the seat of the government and of the supreme court. Pop. (1881) 405,848, of whom 3205 were Europeans, 12,659 Eurasians, and 50,298 Mohammedans, the rest being Hindus by faith; (1891) 452,518. The chief articles of export are coffee, tea, cotton, grain, hides, indigo, oil-seeds, dye-stuffs, sugar, and horns. The average value of exports and imports for ten years previous to 1895 was about £4,000,000 and £11,000,000 respectively. For the railway connection, see under the presidency below. The Buckingham Canal gives a waterway to the north and south parallel to the coast.