Vellore

Vellore (Tamil: ['ʋeːluːɾ] WAY-loor), also spelled Velur, is a city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Vellore district. Located on the banks of the Palar River, it is surrounded by the Javadi Hills, an extension of the Eastern Ghats. The city covers an area of 76.09 km² (29.38 sq mi), and is further sub-divided into 60 wards across four zones. It is administered by the Vellore Municipal Corporation, headed by a mayor, who is elected by the councilors of the respective wards. As of the 2011 census, the city had a population of 315,128. It is a part of the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, which elects its Member of Parliament to the Lok Sabha, and the Vellore state assembly constituency that elects its member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

The early history of Vellore dates back to the Chola period in the 9th century CE. It was part of various empires during the Middle Ages. The Vellore Fort and the Jalakandeswarar Temple, were built during the reign of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century CE. In the 18th century, Vellore was involved in the Carnatic Wars between the British and the French, and the Anglo-Mysore Wars between the British and the Mysore Kingdom. During the first half of the 19th century, it came under British rule. The Vellore Mutiny took place in 1806, and was the first large scale mutiny of the Indian sepoys against the British. The city was part of the Madras Presidency under the British Raj until 1947, after which it became part of the Indian state of Madras, which was later renamed as Tamil Nadu.

As of 2020, Vellore had a GDP of $4 billion. The economy is dependent on agriculture, and leather, tobacco, and other manufacturing industries. The town is known as the leather hub of India, with hundreds of tanneries located around the city. Leather exports from the region accounted for more than 37% of India's leather exports and leather-related products in the early 2010s. The city has a robust healthcare and educational infrastructure and is home to the Christian Medical College & Hospital, and the Vellore Institute of Technology.

Vellore is one of the cities chosen as a part of the Smart Cities Mission, an urban renewal programme by the Government of India. As per the Global Cities Index by Oxford Economics in 2024, the city was ranked as the 24th best city in India.