Salem district is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district is now divided into Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal as individual districts. Salem is the district headquarters and other major towns in the district include Mettur, Tharamangalam, Thammampatti, Attur, Omalur, Sangagiri and Edappadi. That Salem dates to at least two thousand years ago is evident from the discovery of silver coins from the Roman Emperor Nero (37–68 CE) found by Koneripatti of Salem in 1987. It was ruled by Mazhavar King Kolli Mazhavan and kings Adhiyaman and Valvil Ori of Sangam age. It is part of Mazhanadu, a vast region that dates to the second century BCE. Salem was the largest district of Tamil Nadu. It was bifurcated into Salem and Dharmapuri districts in 1965 and Namakkal district in 1997. Now Salem has been developed a lot by building many bridges and is considered to be the Smart city. Salem is famous for cultivating mangoes.

Salem districts covers an area of 5245 sq. km. It is bounded by the districts of Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Erode, and Kallakurichi. The name Salem is thought to be derived from Sailam (hills) on account of being surrounded by hills.

There are 4 revenue divisions, 14 taluks, 20 revenue blocks, 1 municipal corporation, 7 municipalities, and 33 town panchayats in Salem district.

Salem Revenue Division: Salem taluk, Salem South taluk, Salem West taluk, Yercaud taluk, Vazhapadi taluk

Attur Revenue Division: Attur taluk, Gangavalli taluk, Peddanayakkanpalayam taluk, Thalaivasal taluk

Mettur Revenue Division: Mettur taluk, Omalur taluk, Kadayampatti taluk

Sangagiri Revenue Division: Sangagiri taluk, Edappadi

According to 2011 census, Salem district had a population of 3,482,056 with a sex-ratio of 954 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 344,960 were under the age of six, constituting 180,002 males and 164,958 females. 50.95% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 16.67% and 3.43% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the district was 72.86%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The district had a total of 915,967 households. There were a total of 1,694,160 workers, comprising 247,011 cultivators, 396,158 main agricultural labourers, 132,700 in household industries, 785,161 other workers, 133,130 marginal workers, 9,993 marginal cultivators, 58,052 marginal agricultural labourers, 8,803 marginal workers in household industries and 56,282 other marginal workers.