In 18th century, the Coimbatore region came under the Kingdom of Mysore, controlled by Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan. After defeating Tipu Sultan in the Anglo-Mysore Wars, the British East India Company annexed Coimbatore to the Madras Presidency in 1799. Coimbatore played a prominent role in the Second Poligar War against the British in 1801, as it was the area of operations of Dheeran Chinnamalai. In 1865, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district and in 1866 it was accorded the municipality status. Sir Robert Stanes became the first Chairman of the Coimbatore City Council. Industrialisation of the region begin in 1888 and continued into the 20th century. The city experienced a textile boom in 1920s and 1930s due to the decline of the Cotton industry in Mumbai. The region played a significant role in the Indian independence movement.Post independence, Coimbatore has seen rapid growth due to industrialisation. In 1981, Coimbatore was constituted as a corporation. Coimbatore is situated in the extreme west of Tamil Nadu, near the state of Kerala. It is surrounded by mountains on the west, with reserve forests and the (Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve) on the northern side. The eastern side of the district, including the city is predominantly dry. The entire western and northern part of the district borders the Western Ghats with the Nilgiri biosphere as well as the Anaimalai and Munnar ranges. A western pass to Kerala, popularly referred to as the Palghat Gap provides its boundary. Because of its close proximity to the Western Ghats, the district is rich in fauna. Many lakes and ponds were constructed near the river in ancient times. The city of Coimbatore has nine lakes (wetlands). Singanallur Lake, Kuruchi Lake, Valankulam Lake, Krishnampatti Lake, Muthannan Lake and Seevagasintamani Lake are some of them. In most of the urban ecosystems, these wetlands are the major life-supporting component with high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. The Coimbatore urban wetlands harbours more than 125 species of resident and migratory birds, with August – October being the peak season. Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork, Open Billed Stork, Ibis, Spot-billed Duck, Teal, Black Winged Stilt are some of the migratory birds that visit Coimbatore wetlands regularly.

Coimbatore and its people have a reputation for entrepreneurship. Though it is generally considered a traditional city, Coimbatore is more diverse and cosmopolitan than all other cities in Tamil Nadu except for Chennai..The heavy industrialisation of the city has also resulted in the growth of trade unions. There are numerous temples in and around the city including the Perur Patteeswarar Temple, Konniamman temple, Thandu Mariamman temple, Vazhai Thottathu Ayyan temple, Echanaari Ganesh temple, Karamadai temple, Marudamalai Murugan temple and the Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple. The Mariamman festivals, at the city’s numerous Amman temples, are major events in summer.] The mosques on Oppanakara Street and Big Bazaar Street date back to the period of Hyder Ali. Christian missions date back to 1647 when permission was granted by the Nayak rulers to set up a small church in Karumathampatti (12 km). It was destroyed by Tipu Sultan’s army resulting in a new church in 1804. In 1886, Coimbatore was constituted as a diocese after bifurcating with Pondicherry. Sikh Gurudwaras and Jain Temples are also present in Coimbatore. From 1940s to 70s the city was generally peaceful without any communal or caste clashes. Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 was followed by large scale arson and looting targeted at businesses owned by North Indians (particularly Sikhs). During the 1980s crime increased, Hindu – Muslim riots were frequent in the late 80’s and 90’s reaching their peak in 1997 when a large scale riot occurred in the Townhall and West Coimbatore area. It was followed by the 1998 bomb blasts.After 2000, Crime rate in Coimbatore dropped making it one of the largest cities in India with a low crime rate.

In 1867, the first group of students appeared for the SSLC Examinations from Coimbatore. The earliest educational institutions established in the city are C.S.I. Boys High School (1831), St. Michael’s Higher Secondary School (1860), Stanes Anglo Indian Higher School (1862), St. Francis Anglo Indian Girls High School (1880), Sarvajana High School (1910) and Suburban Higher Secondary School (1917). Presently there are three types of schools in Coimbatore – 1) government run schools (corporation schools) 2) schools funded by the government but run by private trusts (aided schools) and 3) schools funded and administered by private trusts. They are classified as Tamil Nadu Anglo Indian School Board, Tamil Nadu State Board, Matriculation and CBSE schools according to the syllabus taught in them. The Coimbatore Education District (not the same as the revenue district) is the unit of administration for education in the city. In 2010, the number of students who wrote the SSLC (Standard 10) and Higher Secondary (Standard 12) examinations was both around 30,000. Coimbatore is home to state owned universities like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (est. 1971), Bharathiar University (1982), Anna University Coimbatore (2007) and private universities like Karunya University (1986), Avinashilingam University (1987), Amrita University (2003) and Karpagam University (2005). There also plans to establish a “world class” university in the region and to convert the Government Arts College into a unitary type university. The first college opened in Coimbatore was the Government Arts College (1875–76). The Forest College and Research Institute was opened in 1916. The first engineering college in the city was started by G.D. Naidu as the Hope College in 1945. Later it became the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore. The Air Force Administrative College was established in 1949 to train Indian Air Force personnel. PSG College of Technology and Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT) were started in the 1950s. Coimbatore Medical College was opened in 1966 and the Government law college started functioning from 1978. The agricultural school established in 1868 was converted into a full fledged agricultural university (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) in 1971. Several private engineering and arts & science colleges were started during the education boom in the 1990s. As of 2010, Coimbatore district is home to 54 engineering colleges, 2 medical colleges, 18 polytechnics and more than 70 Arts and Science Colleges.

The city has numerous hospitals. Apart from the Government hospital, several multi-facility hospitals function in the city. The district’s health department is amongst the best in terms of implementing government-initiated health schemes. Also, several rare surgical procedures have taken place here. The polio eradication programme is heavily assisted by the city’s Rotary Clubs, who also regularly donate ambulances for smaller hospitals. The city also has numerous homoeopathic clinics run by NGOs. Fast pace of industrialisation, spiralling population and the increase in the health awareness have led to the growth of the healthcare industry in Coimbatore. Coimbatore stands second to Chennai in Tamil Nadu for highly affordable and quality healthcare deliveries of international standards. Coimbatore is also the preferred healthcare destination to the floating population from nearby towns and districts and also nearby districts of Kerala. The growth of the hospitals in the city can be attributed to the vision of the industrialists here to bridge the gap between growing health needs and the existing services. Many of the private hospitals in the city are promoted by industrialists as an extension of their business portfolios and their services to the society. The first healthcare centre started in 1909, later became the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) during 1960s.

Textiles Coimbatore houses a large number of small and medium texitle mills. It also has central Textile research institutes. The neighbouring town of Tirupur is home to some of Asia’s largest garment manufacturing companies, exporting hosiery clothes worth more than Rs. 50,000 million. Information technology The city is the second largest software producer in Tamil nadu, next only to Chennai. The software development is set to take an upswing with the launch of TIDEL park and other planned IT parks around the city. The IT industry in Coimbatore is nascent compared to its textile and manufacturing industries, with Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Robert Bosch GmbH, KGISL and CSS Corp Pvt Ltd to name a few. Coimbatore is also emerging as an IT and BPO city. Coimbatore is ranked at 17th place among the global outsourcing cities. Manufacturing Research and Development Organisations like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University , South India Textile Research Association, contribute a lot to the city. Other industries like PSG, Sakthi group contribute a lot, and the now closed South India Viscose are one of the major employers in the city. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has a 300-acre (1.2 km2) campus on the outskirts of Coimbatore, Eachanari bypass road, Malumichampatti. L&T also commissioned its Casting Manufacturing Unit (CMU) near Malumichampatti in December 2009. Some of the other major industries are Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd (LMW), Premier Instruments & Control Limited (PRICOL), Premier Evolvics, ELGI Equipments, Shanti Gears, Roots Industries. Coimbatore is also called as the Pump City. Auto components Textool offered a prototype of Sten Guns to the Indian Government after independence. They developed the first in-house designed car in the 1960s, which never saw the light of day due to the license raj. They made several prototypes until the 1990s. They successfully manufactured India’s first indigenously developed diesel engines in 1972 for cars and their own CNC lathes in 1982. Today their spin-off company, Jayem Automotives, offers R & D services to Mahindra, Tata Motors and Hindustan Motors. Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors source up to 30% of their automotive components from Coimbatore. The city also houses numerous jewellers engaged in jewellery exports. Wind Energy major Suzlon has planned to set up a foundry & machine shop in Coimbatore. Along with it Hansen Transmission, a Belgian Company which manufactures gearboxes for windmills is setting up a plant here with an investment of Rs 940 cr. Wet grinders Coimbatore has more than 700 wet grinder manufacturers with a monthly output As of March 2005[update] of 75,000 units.The term “Coimbatore Wet Grinder” was given a Geographical indication for wet grinders manufactured in Coimbatore and Erode in 2006.Coimbatore is also home to a common facility for the manufacturers of wet grinders. Pump manufacturing It is also called as the pump city of India. The City houses large number of small scale engineering companies. The motor and pump industry supplies two thirds of India’s requirements, while its wet-grinder industry has a near monopoly. Agriculture is still the major occupation in the district as in any other part of the Country. General trade attracts people from all over the state including the neighbouring Kerala. The Major Pump industries Suguna pumps, Sharp Industries, CRI Pumps, Texmo Industries, Deccan Pumps & KSB Pumps are renowned world wide. Coimbatore also has a 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2) trade fair ground, built in 1999. It was named COINTEC due to its hosting of INTEC (Small Industries Exhibition)[3]. The Trade Fair complex, one of the country’s largest, was built in six months, and is owned by CODISSIA (Coimbatore District Small Industries Association). It is also the country’s largest pillar-free hall, according to the Limca Book of Records.

Air The city has an airport (Coimbatore Airport) at Peelamedu (11 km from the city) and an air-force base at Sulur (15 km). The Coimbatore airport caters to domestic flights to all the major Indian cities and international flights to Sharjah and Singapore. The Extended Runway is now ready at Coimbatore airport. It now runs to 9,760 feet (2,970 m) and is capable of handling wide-bodied and “fat-bellied” aircraft, such as are used for international flights. With the extended runway, airlines can operate aircraft types such as 747 SP, A 330, 747-300B, 747-300 ER, 747-400 and 747-200.[56] Rail New Railway Station Building Front View Trains first began serving Coimbatore in 1872, upon construction of the Podanur (Coimbatore South) -Madras line connecting Kerala and the west coast with the rest of India[citation needed]. Broad gauge trains connect Coimbatore to all parts of India and Tamil Nadu. Meter gauge line existed between Podanur and Dindigul got closed on May 2009 and is under gauge conversion. The Coimbatore Junction is well connected to major Indian cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, New Delhi and Mumbai, besides the neighbouring State of Kerala. It is second highest revenue yielding station in the Southern Railway division of Indian Railways The Coimbatore Junction comes under the Jurisdiction of the salem Division and contributes 43.5% of its divisional income. Coimbatore North Junction is another important railway junction in the city. Road Dr. Nanjappa road opposite Gandhipuram Bus Stand D. B Road in R. S. Puram The city has six major arterial roads and three National Highways – NH-47 (Cochin–Salem), NH-67 (Mysore–Nagappattinam) and NH 209 (Bangalore–Dindigul). A new bypass highway built by Larsen and Toubro completed in 1998 has helped reduce truck traffic in the city. Coimbatore has several major bus stands. The town buses (intra-city) operate from the Town Bus Stand in Gandhipuram. Inter-city buses that connect Coimbatore operate from five different bus stands: Gandhipuram Bus Stand (for buses going to East and North East to Erode, Tirupur, Salem and surrounding areas), Singanallur Bus Stand (for buses to Madurai, Trichy and the towns around them), Thiruvalluvar or SETC Bus Stand at Gandhipuram (for buses to Karnataka, Kerala and Chennai), Ukkadam Bus Stand (for buses to Palakkad, Palani, Dindigul and Kodaikanal and other nearby places) and Mettupalayam Road Bus stand for buses going toward Mettupalayam and Ooty. Apart from these the Omni Bus Stand in Sathy Road, Gandhipuram caters to private bus operators.Main shopping area, Cross Cut Road in 2009 The city has a very high vehicle-to-population ratio. Town buses started operations in 1921. Town bus services serve most parts of the city, as well as other towns and villages in the district. Buses also connect the district with all towns in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, South and West Karnataka, Pondicherry and Tirupathi (Andhra Pradesh). The number of inter-city routes operated by Coimbatore division is 119 with a fleet of 500 buses. The number of town buses in the city is around 800 in 228 different routes.The city is also served by auto rickshaws. However, autorickshaw drivers have a reputation for fleecing passengers, resulting in the growth of call taxis.

Two major English newspapers The Hindu and The New Indian Express bring out editions from the city. Business Line, a business newspaper also brings out a Coimbatore edition. Tamil newspapers which have Coimbatore editions include Dina Malar , Dina Thanthi, Dina Mani , Dinakaran (all morning newspapers) and Tamil Murasu and Malai Malar (both evening newspapers). Two Malayalam newspapers – Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi also have considerable circulation in the city. A short wave radio station is operated by All India Radio, with most programs in Tamil, English and Hindi. Five FM radio stations operate from Coimbatore – Rainbow FM from All India Radio, Suryan FM from Sun Network, Radio Mirchi, Radio City, and Hello FM.All these private radio stations air exclusively Tamil based programs, including film music. The range of these stations cover Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiri districts of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad and Wayanad districts of Kerala. Television relay started in 1985 from Delhi Doordarshan. In 1986, after inception of a repeater tower at Kodaikanal, telecast from Madras Doordarshan commenced. The people of Coimbatore witnessed the 1980 Olympics and 1983 Cricket World Cup on a giant screen in VOC Park when the city-based UMS developed a dish antenna for satellite signal reception. Currently television reception is through DTH or by cable, while Doordarshan reception is still available using an external antenna. In 2005, Doordarshan opened its studio in Coimbatore. Coimbatore has a well connected communications infrastructure. Till the 1990s the state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was the only telecommunition service provider in the city. In the 1990s, private telecom companies too started offering their services. Currently besides BSNL, fixed line telephone services are offered by Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel. Dial up internet connections were first introduced (by HCL and BPL) in 1996 and broadband internet (by BSNL) in 2005. As of 2010, BSNL, Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices all offer broadband service through fixed lines and mobiles;MTS offers mobile broadband alone.Cellular telephony was first introduced in 1997.Coimbatore is the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu circle of cellular service providers. The telecom company Aircel is headquartered in the city.Mobile telephone services available in the city include both CDMA and GSM connections.

Coimbatore District is very much known for its tourist attractions. There are lots of places to visit in and around Coimbatore. Coimbatore district is one of the biggest districts in Tamil Nadu with lot of tourist attractions, shopping centres as well as religious places. Some of the major attractions of Coimbatore District are Aliyar Dam, Monkey Falls, Siruvani Dam, Cholayar Dam, Botanical Garden, Horticulture Farms and Vaitheki Falls. All these places are worth visiting. Coimbatore serves as an entry and exit point to neighbouring Kerala and the ever-popular hill station of Udhagamandalam (Ooty). It is the landing point for those who want to take the Mountain train that runs from Mettupalayam, just 35 kms from Coimbatore.