Coonoor
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| Coonoor Facts | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Nilgiri Hills in North West Tamil Nadu, adjoining the state borders of Kerala to the West & SW, and Karnataka to the North. |
| Geographic coordinates: | 11.35 N, 76.76 E |
| Country: | India |
| State: | Tamil Nadu |
| Landscape: | Rolling hills and valleys |
| Climate: | Varies from tropical monsoons, to mild winters and pleasant summers |
| Labor force - by occupation: | Primarily Agriculture (Tea), Industry (Tea), Education and Tourism |
| Agriculture - products: | Tea, Coffee (minimal), Carrot, Cauliflower, Potato, Cabbage, Peach, Plum, Passion fruit |
| Major Religions: | Hinduism,Christianity, Islam, Jainism |
| Languages spoken: | Tamil, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Badaga |
| Airports/Heliports: | No airports, private and government heliports - not open to commercial traffic |
| Institutions of learning: | Large numbers of expensive private residential English language K-12 (Kindergarten - Higher Secondary) schools, other public and private schools and colleges |
Coonoor is a small quiet hill town in the Nilgiri hills. It has a reputation for being a reality defying Shangri-La of sorts. However, recent economic development, and the rampant influx of tourists to the region in the past few decades have eroded this image of Coonoor to some degree.
Background
Coonoor's economy relies primarily on the seasonal tourist traffic during the summer months, and on the tea industry year round. The town is the second largest in the Nilgiri hills after Ooty the district head quarters.
The local populace almost entirely depends on the tea trade to some degree. The massive private tea plantations that surround the hills produce fresh green tea leaves which are picked, processed and packaged in bulk in local factories, for sale at auction houses in Coimbatore and Cochin.
The hills are among the more scenic spots in Tamil Nadu, and consequently attract enormous amounts of tourists during the hot Indian summer months. The town’s infrastructure often finds itself unable to handle the tourist inflow, and life turns especially chaotic when the local horticultural society holds its annual “Fruit Show” at the peak of the tourist season.
Coonoor’s dominant demographic is a healthy mix of religions, languages and cultures caused by the tourists who decide to retire here, the Indian Army’s regimental headquarters and Staff College (DSSC) in neighboring Wellington and the local boarding schools. Christianity is a dominant minority religion, with many locals practicing Christianity along with Hinduism or Islam.
Education
The expensive boarding schools have for nearly a century now been a feature of the Nilgiris and Coonoor. Originally modelled as British vocational training centers, these have now become comprehensive Kindergarten - Higher Secondary schools based on the Indian (Central or State) schooling systems. The pleasant climate and utopian ideas of children growing up away from the maddening rush of life attract parents from all over the world. The schools are generally very well equipped by Indian and International standards, and generally cater to the Indian elite. However, since most schools are also open to locals, they don't always breed elitist values. The majority of the schools are owned and operated by Catholic missionaries. The reasonable availability of infrastructure allows these schools to excel in sports, unlike most other schools in India which have a very strong academic focus.