Anantapur

Anantapur district officially: Anantapuramu district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located in Anantapur city. It is one of the driest places in South India. census of India, it was the largest district in the state by area and with a population of 2,241,105. Later in the year 2022, as part of re-organisation of districts, Sri Sathya Sai district was carved out and so its area and population reduced by half.

Etymology

The name Anantapur was named after a big tank called Anantasagara. It existed during reign of Vijayanagara Empire, which was named after Ananthamma, wife of Bukkaraya, one of the founders of the empire.

History

Gooty fort was a stronghold of the Marathas, but was taken from them by Hyder Ali. In 1789 it was ceded by his son Tipu Sultan to the Nizam of Hyderabad, and in 1800 the nizam ceded the surrounding districts to the British in payment for a subsidiary British force. In 1882, Anantapuram district was formed by carving out from Bellary district.

Geography

It is one of the largest district of Andhra Pradesh district in spanning an area of , comparatively equivalent to Japan's Shikoku Island. It is bounded on the north by Kurnool district and Nandyal district , on the east by Kadapa district, and South by Sri Sathya Sai district and on the southwest and west by Chitradurga district And Bellary district in Karnataka state. It is part of Rayalaseema region on the state. Its northern and central portions are a high plateau, generally undulating, with large granite rocks or low hill ranges rising occasionally above its surface. In the southern portion of the district the surface is more hilly, the plateau there rising to . above the sea. Six rivers flow within the district: Penna, Chithravathi, Vedavathi, Papagni, Swarnamukhi, and Thadakaleru. The district receives an average annual rainfall of 381 millimetres. Anantapur district mostly falls under the rainshadow region of the Western Ghats, with a Hot semi-arid climate. Red soil and vertisol are the most common soils. The driest parts of India after the Thar desert are in this region, as well as adjoining Chitradurga district and Ballari district of Karnataka, and parts of Kurnool district and Kadapa district.

Anantapur city is from Vijayawada, from Hyderabad, and from the neighbouring state capital of Bengaluru. Anantapur connects Hyderabad and Bangalore through National Highway 7. Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru is the nearest international airport to Ananthapuramu town. Other small-scale domestic airports are there in neighboring districts of Kurnool and Kadapa which are around 150 km and 200 km away respectively.

Demographics

census of India, Anantapur district has a population of 4,081,148 with 9,68,160 households, ranking it as the 7th most populous district in the state. It is the largest district in the state with an area of . Anantapur has a sex ratio of 977 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 64.28%. Urban population in the district is 28.9% of total population.

After bifurcation Anantapur district had a population of 2,241,105, of which 753,354 (33.62%) lived in urban areas. Anantapur district had a sex ratio of 978 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 3,34,142 (14.91%) and 70,161 (3.13%) of the population respectively.

Language

At the time of the 2011 census, 84.59% of the population spoke Telugu, 9.64% Urdu, 3.03% Kannada and 1.42% Lambadi as their first language.

Administrative divisions

The District has three Revenue Divisions: Anantapur, Guntakal and Kalyandurg. These revenue divisions are further divided into 32 mandals.

The mandals of the district are listed in the following table:

Parliament segments

Anantapur (Lok Sabha constituency), Hindupur (Lok Sabha constituency)

Assembly segments

Anantapur and Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following Legislative Assembly segments:

Erstwhile Talukas in District

Towns in District

The Following are the towns in old district.

Temples

The following sixty five temples under the management of Endowments Department

Notable people

• Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, President of India, Lok sabha Speaker, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Central Minister
• T. Nagi Reddy, Communist leader
• Syed Shahabuddin (cricketer), first class crickter
• Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma, singer
• Sujeeth, director, writer

External links

• District official website