Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh (AP) is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the country's southeastern coast. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 160,205 km2 (61,855 sq mi). According to 2011 census, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. Vijayawada is the de facto capital of Andhra pradesh and as per Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of time not exceeding 10 years.

The state has the second longest coastline of 972 km (604 mi) among all the states of India, second only to Gujarat. It borders Telangana in the northwest, Chhattisgarh in the North, Odisha in the northeast, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 (12 sq mi) of Yanam, a district of Pondicherry, lies in the Godavari delta to the northeast of the state.

There are two regions in the state namely Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema and hence, the two regions are more often referred as Seemandhra by the news media. There are 13 districts with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema. Visakhapatnam is the largest city and a commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $26 billion followed by Vijayawada with a GDP of $3 billion. Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Tirupati, Kakinada and Rajahmundry are other important cities.