Andhra Pradesh

,state (2001 provisional pop. 75,727,541),106,052 sq mi (275,608 sq km),SE India,on the Bay of Bengal. The capital is Hyderabad. The state was created in 1956 from the Telugu-speaking portions of Madras and Hyderabad states. Although the interior is mountainous,Andhra Pradesh is largely on a coastal plain drained by the Penner,Krishna,and Godavari rivers. Rice,sugarcane,peanuts,and cotton are raised; coal,chrome,and manganese are mined. India's largest shipyard is located in Vishakhapatnam,and a satellite launch center is on Sriharikota island. The state takes its name from the Andhra people,the indigenous inhabitants of the area. Among the political forces within Andhra Pradesh is a movement advocating separation from India. The state is governed by a chief minister and cabinet responsible to a bicameral legislature with one elected house and by a governor appointed by the president of India.

Andhra Pradesh 
Capital Hyderabad,India
17.22� N 78.26� E 
Largest city Hyderabad,India 
Abbreviation IN-AP 
Official languages Telugu,Urdu 
Formation October 1 1953 
Area 275,068 km� (4th) 
Population (2001) 75,727,000 (5th) 
Time zone IST (UTC +5:30) 

Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh),is a state in south-eastern India and is part of the linguistic-cultural region of South India. It lies between 12�41' and 22�N latitude and 77� and 84�40'E longitude,and is bounded by Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the north,the Bay of Bengal in the east,Tamil Nadu to the south and Karnataka to the west. Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest state in India and it forms the major link between the north and the south of India. It is the biggest and most populous state in the south of India. It is considered the rice bowl of India. The state is crisscrossed by two major rivers,the Godavari and Krishna. ("Pradesh" means "region" or "state".)

Languages in Andhra Pradesh

Telugu is the regional and official language of the State,spoken by 84.86 percent of the population. The major linguistic minority groups in the State include the speakers of Urdu (7.86%),Hindi (2.65%) and Tamil (1.27%).The minority language speakers who constitute less than 1 percent are the speakers of Kannada (0.94%),Marathi (0.84%),Oriya (0.42%),Malayalam (0.10%),Gondi (0.21%),and Koya (0.30%).

Urdu is one of the most important languages of Andhra Pradesh. While Telugu is the official language of the state,Urdu is treated as the additional official language in numerical strength. It comes next to Telugu. Urdu is spoken by 55.6 lakh persons in the state. The state government has notified the areas where the population of linguistic minority constitutes 15% or more of the local population. Telugu is the most preferred language among the Urdu speakers of Andhra. 38 percent of the total Urdu population is bilingual in Telugu.

Important Cities