The Buckingham Canal is a 796 kilometres (494.6 mi) long fresh water navigation canal, running parallel to the Coromandel Coast of South India from Kakinada in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to Villupuram District in Tamil Nadu. The canal connects most of the natural backwaters along the coast to Chennai (Madras) port. It was constructed during British Rule, and was an important waterway during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.