The city of Coimbatore rests on the banks of the Noyal River.  It lies in the western part of the Tamil Nadu state.  The most popular language in the city is Tamil.

Coimbatore is known as  Kovai.  The city can be traced back to second century AD, when it was a small tribal village capital.  In this period of its early history it was known not as Coimbatore, but as Kongunad.  It was ruled by several famous kings, including Cheras, Pandyas, Pallavas, Hoysalas, and Vijayangara.

After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799 the British annexed the region, and it remained under British rule. Coimbatore did not become incorporated until 1979, when it annexed the Singanallur Municipality. There are many temples that can be visited today to help tourist understand the religious heritage of the people.

Around the city are mountains to the west.  On the northern side there is a lush green forest reserve.  The eastern side of the area is dryer than the rest of the city.  The soil is black, lending itself to cotton farming.  The plant and animal life of Coimbater is also disverse.  In the wild elephants, leopards, tiger, and sloth can be found.  

Most of the animals live in the Anamalai Wildlife Sancuary at an altitude of 1,400 meters above sea level.  Most of the forest is in the mountains to the west and north.  Within the forest grows commercially important plants such as teak, sandalwood, rosewood, and bamboo.  The forests vary from tropical evergreens to jungles of shrubs in the southern ranges.