ANANTAPUR, ANDHRAPRADESH

Anantapur is a city, Municipal Corporation and the district headquarter of Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It lies on NH-7. It was the headquarters of the "Datta Mandalam" (Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh and Bellary district of Karnataka) in 1799 and Sir Thomas Manro was the first collector for ceded districts. It was also a position of strategic importance for the British Indian Army during the Second World War.

GEOGRAPHY: 

Ananthapur is located at 14.68°N 77.6°E It has an average elevation of 335 metres (1099 feet).

CLIMATE

Ananthapur has a semi-arid climate, with hot and dry conditions for most of the year. Summers start in late February and peak in May with average high temperatures around the 37 °C (99 °F) range. Ananthapur gets pre-monsoon showers starting as early as March, mainly through north-easterly winds blowing in from Kerala. Monsoon arrives in September and lasts until early November with about 250 mm (9.8 in) of precipitation. A dry and mild winter starts in late November and lasts until early February; with little humidity and average temperatures in the 22–23 °C (72–73 °F) range. Total annual rainfall is about 22 in (560 mm)

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the 2011 census, Ananthapur has a population of 262,340 (urban 341,895) The sex ratio was 995 females per 1000 males and 9% of the population was under six years old. Effective literacy is 82%, male literacy is 89% and female literacy is 75%. Telugu, Urdu, Kannada and English are the predominant languages of this city.

TRANSPORTATION

Ananthapur City is very well connected to most major cities in India by the National Highways NH7 and NH 205. Ananthapur also has direct train connection to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Dharmavaram,Hindupuram Adoni, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Vishakapatnam, etc. Puttaparthi which is 80 km south of Ananthapur is the nearest airport with scheduled air services while Bangalore, 168 km away (Devana Halli) has an international airport and is well connected to rest of India.