Sivakasi  is a city and Municipal Corporation in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This city is known for its firecracker, matchbox and printing industries. Sivakasi city alone meets about 90% fire cracker requirements of India. Due to its rapid industrial growth, this city is also called as Little Japan of India.

 The industries in Sivakasi employ over 250,000 people with an estimated turn over of ₹20 billion (US$260 million). Sivakasi was established in the 15th century during the reign of the Pandya king Harikesari Parakkirama Pandian. The town was a part of Madurai empire and has been ruled at various times by the Later Pandyas, Vijayanagara Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Chanda Sahib, Carnatic kingdom and the British. A major riot during the British Raj took place in 1899.

Sivakasi has dry weather, making it suitable for dry crops like cotton, chillies and millets. Bhadrakali Amman temple is one of the most prominent landmarks of the town. Sivakasi is a part of Sivakasi constituency and elects its member of legislative assembly every five years, and a part of the Virudhunagar constituency that elects its member of parliament. 

Sivakasi is locally administered by municipal corporation which covers an area of 53.67 km2 (20.72 sq mi). Roadways are the major mode of transport to the town, while there is also railroad connectivity. In 2011, Sivakasi had a population of 285,827.

The economy of Sivakasi is dependent on three major industries: firecrackers, matchbox manufacturing, and printing. The town has 520 registered printing industries, 53 match factories, 32 chemical factories, seven soda factories, four flour mills and two rice and oil mills. The town is the nodal center for firecracker manufacturing at the national level. 

In 2020 there are around 1070 registered firecracker manufacturing companies in sivakasi and 8 lakh people were directly and indirectly employed by the industry.Some of the private enterprises had an annual turnover of ₹5 billion (US$66 million). In 2011, the combined estimated turnover of the firecracker, matchbox making and printing industry in the town was around ₹20 billion (US$260 million).

 Approximately 70% of the firecrackers and matches produced in India are from Sivakasi. The hot and dry climate of the town is conducive to the firecracker and matchbox making industries. The raw materials for these industries were procured from Sattur earlier but were discontinued due to the high power and production cost. The source of raw materials is Kerala and Andaman. The paper for the printing industry is procured from various states.

The town is a major producer of diaries, contributing to 30% of the total diaries produced in India. Printing industry in the town was initially utilized for printing labels for the firecrackers and later evolved with modern machinery to grow as a printing hub. In 2012, all the industries suffered 15–20% production loss due to power shortage and escalating labor cost.