Salem got its name from the sanskrit word ‘sailam’ which means mountain. As this area is surrounded by hills, it is apt to be called salem. It is a land of minerals. The hills around salem has iron ore, bauxite, limestone, precious stones, etc. Salem is the fifth largest city of Tamilnadu. It was originally got by british from tipu sultan as bara mahal which contained 12 localities. This district was later divided in to  three : Dharmapuri, Nammakkal and Salem. Another speciality of the name is that it is made up of the initial letters  of its dominant specialities: s- for steel, A – for aluminium, L – for limestone, E – for electricity

(There is hydro electric power generation in mettur) and M – for mango. (salem mangoes are famous). Yercaud, a beautiful hill station, is located here. Since salem is a city with infrastructures well developed, tourists can stay in this place and visit the places in the neighbouring district of Nammakal and Dharmapuri.