Coastal Andhra  is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. This region was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. According to the 2011 census, it has an area of 92,906 square kilometres (35,871 sq mi) which is 57.99% of the total state area and a population of 34,193,868 which is 69.20% of Andhra Pradesh state population. This area includes the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, from the northern border with Odisha to south of the delta of the Krishna River.

Districts of Coastal Andhra:^[2] Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur,Prakasam and Nellore.

Coastal Andhra has rich agricultural land, owing to the delta of the Godavari and Krishna rivers. The prosperity of Coastal Andhra can be attributed to its rich agricultural land and an abundant water supply from these two rivers. Rice grown in paddy fields is the main crop, with pulses and coconuts also being important. The fishing industry is also important to the region.

Coastal Andhra is located to the east of Telangana and Rayalaseema regions bordered by Odisha to the North and Rayalseema and Tamil Nadu to the south and Telangana to the west. The coastal line of this region is the second largest in India, extending 960 km.

Coastal Andhra comprises circar districts:

• Srikakulam

• Vizianagaram

• Visakapatnam

• East Godavari

• West Godavari

• Krishna

• Guntur

• Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu - 1st Chief Minister of Andhra State (Prakasam).

• Bezawada Gopala Reddy - 2nd Chief Minister of Andhra State (Nellore).

• Kasu Brahmananda Reddy - 3rd Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Guntur).

• Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy - 8th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Guntur).

• N.T.Rama Rao - 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Krishna).

• Nadendla Bhaskara Rao - 11th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Guntur).

• Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy - 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Nellore).

• K.Rosaiah - 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Guntur).

      Over view of Visakhapatnam city

• Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur

• Nellore, Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Eluru, Ongole

Buddhist hub


Gurubhaktulakonda BuddhistMonastery Remnants atRamatheertham

• Salihundam in Srikakulam District

• Danthavarapukota (Dantapuri^{[citation needed]} in Srikakulam District

• Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram District

• Pavurallakonda in Visakhapatnam District

• Thotlakonda in Visakhapatnam District

• Bavikonda in Visakhapatnam District

• Bojjannakonda (Sankaram) in Visakhapatnam District

• Kotturu Dhanadibbalu in Visakhapatnam District

• Gopalapatnam in Visakhapatnam District

• Kummarilova^[4] (Tuni) in East Godavari District

• Kodavali^[5] in East Godavari District

• Kapavaram in East Godavari District

• Guntupalli in West Godavari District

• Pedavegi in West Godavari District

• Ghantasala in Krishna District

• Gudivada in Krishna District

• Jaggaiahpet in Krishna District

• Amaravati in Guntur District

• Bhattiprolu in Guntur District

• Anupu in Guntur District

• Chandavaram in Prakasam District

• Kanuparti in Prakasam District

• Ramatheertam in Nellore District

Boats at Bhimili (Bheemunipatnam) beach in Visakhapatnam District

• Indrakeeladri, Vijayawada

• Simhachalam

• Annavaram

• Dwaraka Tirumala

• Amaravathi

• Sri Panakaala Narasimha Swami Temple, Mangalagiri

• Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, Antarvedi

• Draksharamam

• Sri Suryanarayana Swamy Temple, Arasavalli

• Sri Kurmam

• Malakonda

• Ramatheertham

• Pancharama Kshetras

• Palakollu

• Samalkot

• Sri Talpagiri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Nellore

• Sri Kodandarama Swami Devastanam,

• Sri Penusila Narasimha Swamy, Penchalkona

• Mallikarjuna Swamy Kamakshi Temple

• Vedagiri Lakshminarasimha Swamy

• Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple

• Pithapuram

• Markapuram

• Kotappa Konda

• Panchadhaarla (Visakhapatnam District)

• Sri Mukhalingam

• Vadapalli, Atreyapuram mandal

Kondapalli fort near Vijayawada

• Vizianagaram

• Tuni

• Bobbili

• Dharanikota (Amaravathi)

• Palnadu

• Rajahmundry

• Kondapalli

• Udayagiri

• Kondaveedu

• Venkatagiri

Kolleru Lake at dusk

• The East Coast Railway (ECoR) serves Srikakulam, Vizianagaram District, and part of Visakhapatnam district including Visakhapatnam City. Vijayawada Railway Station is the one of the busiest railway junctions in India serving many express trains.

• The East Coast Railway (ECoR) serves Srikakulam, Vizianagaram District, and part of Visakhapatnam district including Visakhapatnam City. Vijayawada Railway Station is the one of the busiest railway junctions in India serving many express trains.

• The airports in this region are Visakhapatnam Airport which is an International Airport. Two Domestic Airports at Vijayawada Airport and Rajahmundry Airport

• Visakhapatnam Port is one of the major ports of India.

• Krishnapatnam Port (Nellore), Kakinada and Gangavaram Port are major private ports and there are two minor ports at Machilipatnam, and Nizampatnam(Guntur).^{[citation needed]}

• Nannayya

• Tikkana

• Gurajada Apparao

• Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastri

• Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary

• Gurram Jashuva

• Sri. Gunturu Seshendra Sharma

• S. V. Ranga Rao

• B.Haranath Raju

• Ghantasala (singer)

• Pingali Venkayya

• Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao

• Akkineni Nageswara Rao

The Gajapati and Ganjam districts of Odisha were granted to the French East India Company around 1752. Later they were transferred by the French to the British.

Nellore, which extends as far as Ongole Taluk, was later received from the Nawab of Arcot, under an establishment. Some parts of present day Nellore and Chitoor were in the hands of Venkatagiri Rajas. The British made an arrangement with the Raja of Venkatagiri in 1802 to claim power in those territories also. At present Coastal Andhra extends from Srikakulam to the Nellore district, mainly because of geographical proximity.

Diversity[edit]

Currently, Coastal Andhra comprises nine districts. Coastal Andhra is rich in cultural and linguistic identities throughout the region. Coastal Andhra hosts six dialects of Telugu: Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Godavari, Krishna, Ongole and Nellore. Parts of this region are ruled by different rulers, leading to diversity within the region. Coastal Andhra in turn can be divided into Northern Region (Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts), Central Region (East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts) and Southern Region (Prakasam and Nellore districts). Methods of food preparations, level of spice and compositions vary from each sub region.

Demographics[edit]

Area: 92,906 km²

Population: 34,193,868 (2011 census)

Literacy: 63%

Language: 96% of people speak Telugu

Other languages spoken are kostha Hindi-Telugu mix by Muslims, Tamil and Hindi with some considerable numbers.

Cultural and diversity[edit]

Coastal Andhra hosts six dialects of Telugu: Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Godavari, Krishna, Ongole and Nellore. Parts of this region are ruled by different rulers, leading to diversity within the region. And unique dialect of Dakhni/urdu spoken by local Muslim population that still holds much of old urdu and Persian vocabulary.

Dance[edit]

Classical dance in Andhra may be performed by both men and women; though women tend to learn it more commonly. Kuchipudi is the state's best-known classical dance form. It was born in the Kuchipudi village, of Krishna district, which is in the center of coastal Andhra.

Cuisine[edit]

Rice is the staple food in the Kosta cuisine and is usually consumed with a variety of curries and lentil soups or broths. Cuisine of Coastal Andhra is influenced by Sea Food varieties. Godavari and Krishna districts have numerous varieties of foods, which are famous through the state. Food varieties in some parts of Nellore and Prakasam are influenced by Rayalaseema. And delicacies of Muslim cuisine of local population throughout the region.

Politics[edit]

Chief Ministers from the region are:

Major cities and towns in the region[edit]

Other major towns in the region are Vizianagaram, Machilipatnam, Tenali, Bhimavaram, Srikakulam, Narasaraopet, Tadepalligudem,Chilakaluripet and Chirala.

Tourism[edit]

Buddhist hub[edit]

Coastal Andhra is one of the major Buddhist hub's in India after the Gangetic plain Buddhist Hub of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Many Remnants from Large Monasteries to small Stupas are found in this region from Srikakulam District in the North to Nellore District in the South. The major Buddhist Remnant sites^{[citation needed]} in Coastal Andhra are as follows:

Religious Places[edit]

Places of historical importance[edit]

Rivers, Lakes and Wetlands[edit]

Andhra Pradesh contains 259 coastal wetlands, covering an area of 18,552 km².,^[6] out of which 88 are manmade.

Lakes Kolleru and Pulicat are the two major lakes in Coastal Andhra. Kolleru, a natural sweet-water lake, is situated in the West Godavari district and serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for the two rivers. The lake is also an important habitat for up to 50,000 resident and migratory birds. The lake was declared a wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under India's Wildlife Protection Act, and designated a wetland of international importance in November 2002 under the international Ramsar Convention. Pulicat is the largest salt water lake in the country, located in Nellore and spreads between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. This is one of the famous attractions in south India. In this region, the river Akhanda Godavari splits into several distributary branches, including the Gouthami, Vasishta, Vainatheya, and Vruddha Gouthami, before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

Transportation[edit]

Notable Personalities[edit]

Telugu literature, arts and cinema