Andhra Pradesh is a very lively and beautiful place that echoes the tales of antiquity. The place is rich in spectacular monuments, temples, mosques, palaces all vibrant with arts, crafts, dance and literature. Its vast array of golden beaches enthralls anyone and everyone. Andhra Pradesh is described as the Rice Bowl of India. It is one of the important tourist sites.

History of Andhra Pradesh
The kingdom of Andhra Pradesh finds mention in the Sanskrit epics. Andhra Pradesh is said to have been the home of the Pre- Dravidian dark colored inhabitants. In the 12th and the 13th centuries, there was the emergence of the Kakatiya dynasty. The Kakatiyas were the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas. In 1323 CE, Delhi Sultan Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq conquered the Telugu country and laid siege to Warangal. Later the Musunuri Nayaks recaptured Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate and ruled for fifty years. In the 18th century, Andhra Pradesh had to surrender to the East India Company and the whole of Andhra Pradesh except Hyderabad was under the British till 1947. In 1947, India became independent and Hyderabad become part of the Republic of India in 1948 as Hyderabad State. In an effort to protect the interests of the Telugu people, Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu demanded for the separation of Telugu speaking districts from the Madras Presidency to form an Andhra state. On 19 October 1952, Andhra attained statehood. On 1 November 1956 Andhra merged with the Telangana region of Hyderabad State to form the state of Andhra Pradesh, which consisted of Telugu-speaking people. Hyderabad became the capital of the new state Andhra Pradesh.

Geography of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is a state in southern India that is surrounded by Madhya Pradesh and Orissa in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south and Maharashtra in the west. The area of the state is 275,068 SqKm. It lies between 12o41` and 22o longitude and 77o and 84o40` latitude. The state is crossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna which spring from the Western Ghats in Maharashtra and flow eastward and joins the Bay of Bengal. The state has two great rivers, Godavari and Krishna. The Godavari enters the state of Andhra Pradesh direct from Maharashtra, but the Krishna first goes to Karnataka where it flows for a considerable distance before entering Andhra Pradesh. Besides these two big rivers, there are the Tungabhadra, the Pennar and many other small rivers and rivulets. Pennar originates in the Karnataka plateau. These rivers are rain fed, as there is no snow below the Himalayas.

Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest state in India and it forms the major link between the north and the south of India. The three major regions in Andhra Pradesh are:
(1) Northern Circars or coastal Andhra comprising Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Ongole and Nellore districts.
(2) Rayalaseema or Ceded districts comprising Kurnool, Cuddapah, Chittoor and Anantapur districts.
(3) Telangana comprising Khammam, Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Aadilabad, Mahbubnagar and Hyderabad districts.

The state is sprinkled with hill ranges from the north to the south. In the north, there are Simhachalam and Annavaram hills, in the middle country there are the Srisailam hill ranges and in the south are the Tirumalai-Tirupati hills.

Economy of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is a state rich in agriculture. The main crops of the state are paddy, millets, sugarcane and tobacco. The principal crops of the state are groundnuts, cotton, jowar and ragi. Teak is the most important forest product of the state. The industries of the state consist of sugar mills, spinning and textile mills, electrical, paper and cement manufacturing units. In the small-scale sector, there are pesticides and insecticides production, engineering workshops, automobile units and repairs, chemical industries, utensils manufacturing, wooden furniture, electrical items, cotton ginning and edible oil etc. The minerals of Andhra Pradesh consists mainly of asbestos, barytes, coal, chromite, iron ore, kyanite, mica and china clay. The crysotite kind of asbestos is found only in Andhra Pradesh.

Government and politics of Andhra Pradesh
The Legislative Assembly consists of 294 seats. There are 60 members in the Parliament of India. 18 members in the Rajya Sabha and 42 members in the Lok Sabha. There are 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. The major political parties of the state are BJP, BSP ,CPI , CPM ,INC , TDP , CPI(ML)(L) ,MUL, Telengana gana Parishad etc.

Districts of Andhra Pradesh
There are 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh. They are:
Adilabad District
Anantapur District
Chittoor District
Kadapa District (Cuddapah)
East Godavari District
Guntur district
Hyderabad District
Karimnagar District
Khammam District
Krishna District
Kurnool District
Mahbubnagar District
Medak District
Nalgonda District
Nellore District
Nizamabad District
Prakasam District
Ranga Reddy District
Srikakulam District
Visakhapatnam District
Vizianagaram District
Warangal District
West Godavari District

Demographics of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest state in India by area and population. It is the biggest and most populous state in the south of India. The total population of the state is 66,508,854. Out of which the males constitute 33,723,738 and the females constitute to 32,781,116. The literacy rate of the state is 45.11 %. The languages spoken by the people here are Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil. 84 percent of the population speak Telegu. English is used as an official language along with Telugu. In the state there are Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

Culture of Andhra Pradesh
The state has a rich cultural heritage. The dance styles in the State are based on the standard treatises, viz. Abhinaya Darpana and Bharatarnava of Nandikeshwara. Kuchipudi is the state`s classical dance form. Kuchipudi, a blend of music and abhinaya. This dance is Andhra Pradesh`s unique contribution which flowered from a village called Kuchelapuri or Kuchelapuram in Krishna district. The people have a love for movies.The state produces about 200 top movies per year. The festivals celebrated in Andhra Pradesh are : Deepavali, Holi, Idd-Ul-Fitr, Krishna Ashtami, Maha Sivrathri, Milad-Un-Nabi, Muharram, Vijaya Dasami (Dasara), Christmas, Nagapanchami or Nagula Cahvithi, Sankranthi, Sri Rama Navami, Ugadi, VaraLaxmi Vratam, Vinayaka Chavithi

Flora and Fauna of Andhra Pradesh
There are dry deciduous mixed types of forest with patches of moist deciduous forests. There are trees like Sandalwood, Redsanders, Shorea, Thumbergiana, Shorea talura,Terminalia pallida, Cycas beddomei, Syzygium alternifolium etc. There are 1500 plant species belonging to 176 families.

The fauna found here are tiger, panther, spotted deer, Sambar, black buck, bison, ibex, sloth bear, pig, bear, Bonnet monkey, mongoose, wild dogs, jackal, fox, wolf, civet cat, jungle cat, rare and endangered golden gecko, Indian giant squirrel, tree shrew, lizards etc and birds like partridges, quail, peacock, jungle fowl Crested Serpant Eagle, Ashy Crowned Finch Lark, Indian Roller, Kingfishers, White bellied Woodpecker etc.

Education of Andhra Pradesh
The state is striving hard to set up institutes of high quality. There are 1330 Arts, Science and Commerce colleges, 238 Engineering colleges and 53 Medical colleges. The student to teacher ratio is 19:1 in the higher education. All major arts, humanities, science, engineering, law, medicine, business and veterinary science are offered, leading to first degrees as well as postgraduate awards. The International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and Indian School of Business (ISB) are gaining international attention.

More on Andhra Pradesh
Cities of Andhra Pradesh
Costumes of Andhra Pradesh
Folk Dances of Andhra Pradesh
Languages of Andhra Pradesh
Museums of Andhra Pradesh
Temples of Andhra Pradesh
Tribes of Andhra Pradesh
Tribal jewellery of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Receipes