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Andhra Pradesh

The "Sunrise State", on a long stretch of the Bay of Bengal — India's rice bowl and its largest producer of fish and shrimp. The Telugu land of Tirupati, of the Sriharikota spaceport and the ancient Buddhist stupa of Amaravati, now building a new capital by the same name — home to ~4.9 crore people.

Capital Amaravati · Largest city Visakhapatnam · Formed 1 November 1956

  • "The Sunrise State of India"
  • India's largest fish & shrimp producer
  • Tirupati — among the world's richest temples
  • Sriharikota — India's spaceport
  • India's first linguistic state (1953)
  • The Krishna-Godavari rice bowl
Tap a district to highlight it

The 26 districts, from open data — a reference, not an official survey map.

The Basics

Andhra Pradesh at a Glance

A long coastal state on the Bay of Bengal — the fertile delta country of the Krishna and Godavari, the hills of Rayalaseema, and a brand-new capital rising at Amaravati.

  • Amaravati The capital — a greenfield city still being built on the Krishna; Visakhapatnam is the largest city
  • 1953, then 1956 Andhra State formed 1953; Andhra Pradesh formed 1 Nov 1956; Telangana split off in 2014
  • 162,975 km² Area of the present state — India's 7th-largest
  • 26 districts Reorganised from 13 to 26 in 2022
  • Telugu Official language — a classical language, sometimes called "the Italian of the East"
  • 175 + 58 A bicameral legislature — Assembly (175) and Council (58); 25 Lok Sabha seats
  • ~974 km coast One of India's longest coastlines, on the Bay of Bengal
  • Godavari & Krishna The two great rivers of the delta; with the Penna and Tungabhadra
  • Arma Konda At ~1,690 m, the highest peak in the whole Eastern Ghats
  • Borders Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka; the Bay of Bengal to the east
  • State symbols Animal: blackbuck · Bird: rose-ringed parakeet · Tree: neem · Flower: jasmine

People

Population & Society

An overwhelmingly Telugu-speaking, largely rural state. These figures are from Census 2011 — taken before the 2014 split — for the present (residual) Andhra Pradesh.

  • 4.94 cr Population, 2011 (49,386,799) — India's 10th most populous
  • 308 /km² Population density, 2011 — below the national average
  • 993 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011 — well above the national average
  • 67% Literacy rate, 2011 — below the national average
  • 29.5% Urbanisation, 2011 — a largely rural state
  • 2 cities Million-plus cities — Visakhapatnam (the largest) & Vijayawada
  • ~90% Telugu One of India's most linguistically uniform states
  • Faith Hindu ~88%, Muslim ~10%, Christian ~1% (2011)
  • SC & ST ~17% Scheduled Castes and ~5% Scheduled Tribes (2011)

Economy

Farms, Ports & a ₹18-Lakh-Crore Economy

A fast-growing but farm-heavy economy — agriculture is a far larger share than in most states — anchored by the port-industry of Visakhapatnam, though the state carries a high debt burden.

  • ₹18.3 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices)
  • ~14% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 — among the faster-growing big states
  • Above average Per-capita income above the national average, though below its southern neighbours
  • ~35% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP — a relatively high burden

What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2023-24)

  • ~37% Agriculture & allied — an unusually large share, including fisheries
  • ~40% Services — trade, transport, finance & government
  • ~23% Industry — steel, pharma, autos & food processing

The coastal economy

  • #1 seafood India's largest fish & shrimp producer — about a third of the country's marine exports by value
  • Vizag Steel Visakhapatnam's shore-based steel plant (RINL) & Hindustan Shipyard
  • Kia & Sri City The Kia car plant at Anantapur and the Sri City industrial park near the Tamil Nadu border
  • Pharma A large bulk-drug base at Visakhapatnam's pharma city
  • A delta and a coast: the fertile Krishna-Godavari delta and a long coastline give Andhra Pradesh an unusually farm- and fishery-heavy economy, alongside the heavy industry of Vizag.
  • Figures here are the latest Andhra Pradesh Budget estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its Andhra Pradesh figure is for that earlier year.

Agriculture

The Rice Bowl & the Chilli Capital

The Krishna-Godavari delta is one of India's great rice bowls — and the state leads the country in shrimp, chillies, oil palm and flue-cured tobacco.

  • Rice bowl The Krishna-Godavari delta — the "Rice Bowl of the South", a major paddy belt
  • Shrimp #1 India's largest farmed-shrimp producer — around 70% of the country's crop
  • Chilli capital India's largest chilli producer — Guntur's yard is one of Asia's biggest chilli markets (Guntur Sannam, GI)
  • Oil palm #1 India's largest oil-palm / crude-palm-oil producer
  • Tobacco India's largest flue-cured (FCV) tobacco producer — the Tobacco Board sits at Guntur
  • Mango A leading mango state — the Banganapalle mango carries a GI tag
  • Two halves A fertile irrigated coast and the drought-prone Rayalaseema; the Polavaram dam is being built on the Godavari

Administrative

The Districts

Andhra Pradesh has 26 districts. In 2022 it doubled its district count from 13 to 26, naming several after icons such as Sri Potti Sriramulu, NTR and Alluri Sitharama Raju. Pick a district on the interactive map to highlight it above.

    The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero.

    What Makes Andhra Pradesh Unique

    Tirupati, Rockets & Buddhist Roots

    The world's richest temple, India's gateway to space, an ancient school of Buddhist art and a classical language — a few things Andhra Pradesh is known for.

    Faith, science & language

    • Tirumala The Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirupati — among the world's richest and most-visited temples
    • Sriharikota The Satish Dhawan Space Centre — India's only orbital spaceport, ISRO's launch site
    • Classical Telugu Telugu — a classical language of India (2008); Kuchipudi, a classical dance, was born here
    • First linguistic state Andhra State (1953) — independent India's first state drawn on language

    Heritage & nature

    • Amaravati art The ancient Amaravati stupa — a great Satavahana Buddhist monument and school of art
    • Lepakshi The Vijayanagara Veerabhadra temple, with its famous "hanging pillar"
    • Belum Caves The longest cave open to the public in India — the 2nd-longest on the subcontinent
    • Eastern Ghats The forests and coffee hills of Araku, and the Borra limestone caves

    Culture & Traditions

    Kuchipudi, Sankranti & Spice

    From the classical dance of Kuchipudi and the great harvest festival of Sankranti to hand-painted Kalamkari, Kondapalli toys and some of India's spiciest food.

    • Kuchipudi The classical dance born in a Krishna-delta village of the same name
    • Sankranti The four-day harvest festival — the biggest of the year, with muggu, kites & bonfires
    • Kalamkari Machilipatnam's hand-painted cloth, with Kondapalli & Etikoppaka toys — all GI-tagged
    • Handlooms Mangalagiri, Venkatagiri, Uppada & Dharmavaram sarees; the Bobbili veena
    • Cuisine Famously spicy — gongura, Andhra biryani, avakaya pickle & the pootharekulu sweet
    • Tollywood Telugu cinema — one of India's largest film industries

    Places to Visit

    Temples, Hills & a Canyon

    A great temple circuit, the beaches and hills around Visakhapatnam, river gorges and a "grand canyon" on the Penna — Andhra Pradesh's sights run from the coast to the Eastern Ghats.

    • Tirumala The hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara — a pilgrimage like no other
    • Srisailam A rare temple that is both a Jyotirlinga and a Shakti Peetha, above the Krishna
    • Visakhapatnam Beaches, Kailasagiri hill park and a submarine museum on the shore
    • Araku Valley A tribal coffee hill station in the Eastern Ghats, with the Borra Caves
    • Gandikota The "Grand Canyon of India" — a fort gorge on the Penna river
    • Lepakshi The Vijayanagara temple of the hanging pillar and the giant Nandi
    • Kanaka Durga Vijayawada's hill temple on the Krishna; with Simhachalam at Vizag
    • Papikondalu A forested Godavari river gorge, and the green Konaseema delta

    Modern Andhra Pradesh

    A New Capital, a Spaceport & Big Ports

    Andhra Pradesh is building a greenfield capital at Amaravati and a great dam at Polavaram, while Visakhapatnam's port and industry anchor its coastal economy.

    • Amaravati The new capital city, under construction on the Krishna — work resumed in 2024
    • Sriharikota ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre — every Indian satellite launch lifts off from here
    • Visakhapatnam A major port and naval base — the Eastern Naval Command — and a growing IT hub
    • Polavaram A major multipurpose dam under construction on the Godavari
    • Sri City A large multi-product industrial park near the Tamil Nadu border, with the Kia plant at Anantapur
    • South Coast Railway A new railway zone, headquartered at Visakhapatnam

    Road, Rail & Air

    Ports, Junctions & Airports

    A coast lined with ports, one of India's busiest rail junctions, and a clutch of airports — Andhra Pradesh sits on the main routes down the eastern seaboard.

    • Ports Visakhapatnam is a major port; with Krishnapatnam, Gangavaram & Kakinada along the coast
    • Vijayawada One of India's busiest railway junctions, on the main south-bound trunk lines
    • Railways The new South Coast Railway zone, headquartered at Visakhapatnam
    • Airports International airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada & Tirupati, plus several domestic ones
    • Vande Bharat Fast trains link Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam with neighbouring states
    • Highways The Chennai–Kolkata corridor runs the length of the coast

    People & Heritage

    Icons of Andhra Pradesh

    An emperor-poet, a martyr for the Telugu cause, the man who designed the national flag and a film legend turned leader — a few of the figures bound to this land.

    • Krishnadevaraya The great Vijayanagara emperor (r. 1509–1529) and patron of Telugu literature
    • Potti Sreeramulu "Amarajeevi" — whose fast unto death in 1952 won the first Telugu state
    • Tanguturi Prakasam "Andhra Kesari" — the first Chief Minister of Andhra State
    • Pingali Venkayya Who designed the flag that became India's national tricolour
    • N. T. Rama Rao The film legend who founded the Telugu Desam Party and became Chief Minister
    • Sathya Sai Baba The spiritual leader of Puttaparthi, in Sri Sathya Sai district

    Through the Ages

    A Short History of Andhra Pradesh

    From the Satavahanas and the Buddhist stupas to the first linguistic state and a state of its own again — a few milestones that shaped Andhra Pradesh.

    Key milestones in the history of Andhra Pradesh, from about the 2nd century BCE to 2015.
    WhenMilestone
    2nd c. BCE–3rd c. CEThe Satavahanas rule the Deccan; the great Buddhist stupa at Amaravati
    3rd–4th c. CEThe Ikshvakus rule from Nagarjunakonda
    7th–12th c.The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
    1509–1529Krishnadevaraya leads Vijayanagara's golden age; Telugu literature flourishes
    c. 1530The Lepakshi temple, a masterwork of Vijayanagara art, is built
    16th–17th c.The Golconda diamond trade — the Kollur mine yields the Koh-i-Noor
    1760sThe Northern Circars pass to the British, later part of Madras Presidency
    1952Potti Sreeramulu fasts to death for a separate Telugu state
    1 Oct 1953Andhra State is formed — independent India's first linguistic state
    1 Nov 1956Andhra Pradesh is formed by merging with the Telangana region
    2 June 2014Telangana splits away; the present Andhra Pradesh remains
    2015Amaravati is founded as the state's new capital

    Spotted an error, or know this state well?

    This profile is compiled from Census 2011, the Andhra Pradesh budget (via PRS), MPEDA, the Tobacco Board, ISRO, the TTD and IBEF sources. If you find an inaccuracy or have a better source, tell us and we'll review and correct it.

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