It was formed in the year 1989 through the bifurcation of North Arcot into the Tiruvannamalai Sambuvarayar and Vellore Ambedkar districts.

The district is divided into 12 Taluks—Arani, Chengam, Tiruvannamalai, Polur, Thandarampattu, Vandavasi, Kalasapakkam, Chetpet, Kilpennathur, Jamunamarathoor, Cheyyar and Vembakkam.

The temple town of Tiruvannamalai is one of the most ancient heritage sites of India and is a centre of the Saiva religion.

It has historic places besides Tiruvannamalai, Polur, Arani, Vandavasi, Devikapuram connected to East India and French companies.

In the late Chola period the district was ruled by the Cholan of Sambuvarayar having Padavedu near Arani as HQ.

On the whole Tiruvannamalai is traditionally rich in Historic and spiritual values but lacks in industrial growth.

Tiruvannamalai District comes under the Eastern Ghats (TN uplands) and Deccan plateau, hot semiarid region with red loamy soil with cropping period of 90 to 150 days.

Excepting hills, the district falls in the North Eastern agro climatic zone of Tamil Nadu.

According to 2011 census, Tiruvannamalai District had a population of 2,464,875 with a sex-ratio of 994 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Tiruvannamalai one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).

Kalambur Ponni rice is famous across the state and being shipped to places like Chennai, Coimbatore, Vellore, and the like.

Though the town is not popular off the state, a bulk of India's Silk apparels is produced by the people of Arani.

[13] This is evidenced by the recent announcements of a 250-acre (1.0 km2) hi-tech Special Economic Zone for automative components, a 300-acre (1.2 km2) electronics hardware park and the commitment from the Taiwanese Shoe Company to set up its unit.

[14] In November 2009 the Tamil Nadu cabinet approved the Mahindara and Mahindra's Rs 1800 core automobile project in 450 acres.

[16] This High pressure die cast will manufacture automobile and telecommunication components with initial capacity of 7000 ton per year.