Nellore district

Nellore district, officially known as Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district in Coastal Andhra Region, is one of the 26 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. According to the 2011 Census, the district's population was 2,963,557 of which 29.07% was urban. Its administrative headquarters are located in Nellore city. Located in the Coastal Andhra region, the district is bordered by the Bay of Bengal to the east, Kadapa district and Annamayya district to the west, Prakasam district to the north, and Tirupati district to the south.

Etymology
The name of the district is derived from the name of the district headquarters, Nellore. The City was known asVikrama Simhapuri until the 13th century, when it became known as Nellore. The name Nellore originates from a mythological story from the Sthala Puranas which depict a lingam in the form of a stone under an amla, or nelli, tree in Nellore. The place gradually became Nelli-ooru (nelli referring to the amla tree and ooru referring to a place in the Telugu language) and then present-day Nellore.

The official name of Nellore was changed to Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore District (SPS Nellore) on 4 June 2008, in honour of the Indian revolutionary Potti Sri Ramulu, who died fasting in an attempt to achieve the formation of a separate state for the Telugu people, which would later become Andhra Pradesh.

The Nawabs and the British period
After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, the area was ruled by the Nawabs. During the eighteenth century, Nellore saw wars between Najeebullah, the ruler of the area, and his brother Arcot Nawab, who received support from the British and French. Nawab's army, under the command of colonel Caillaud, took over the Nellore fort in 1762. For the purposes of revenue collection, the town of Nellore and the surrounding district were handed over to the British East India Company in 1781 and 1801, respectively. Nellore was named the revenue unit for the district.

Post Indian Independence
In 1970, the northern parts of Nellore district were transferred to the newly-created Prakasam district. On 4 April 2022 Some areas from Southern parts of Nellore district were transferred to newly-created Tirupati district.

Education
In the undivided Nellore district, as per the school information report for the academic year 2017–18, there are a total of 4,489 schools. These include: 21 government, 3,140 mandal and zilla parishads, 2 residential, 1,077 private, 10 model, 10 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), 106 municipal and 123 other types of schools. The total number of students enrolled in primary, upper primary and high schools of the district are 3,95,092.

Economy
The Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) of Nellore district is ₹30482 crore (304.82 billion rupees) and makes up 5.8% of Andhra Pradesh's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). For the fiscal year 2013–14, Nellore's per capita income at current prices was inr 80782. The primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the district contribute ₹9729 crore, ₹6320 crore and ₹14433 crore (97.29 billion, 63.2 billion and 144.33 billion rupees), respectively. The major agricultural contributors to the district's gross value added (GVA) include: paddy, sugarcane, lemon, tomato, milk, meat and fisheries. The major industrial and service contributors to the district's GVA include: construction, electricity, manufacturing, transport and education.

Mining
Nellore district produces most of the crude mica in India. Between 2011 and 2012, Nellore produced 1,784 tonnes of crude mica, the majority of India's total production of 1,899 tonnes.

Epigraphical records
In Nellore district, there exist a variety of Telugu inscriptions originating from several different kingdoms. Tamil inscriptions also exist near the Mallam Subramanyeshwara Swamy temple, which was constructed by Rajendhra Chola during the fourteenth century.

Geography
Located in the Coastal Andhra region in Andhra Pradesh and also a Tondai Nadu region, the district is bordered by the Bay of Bengal to the east, Kadapa district and Annamayya district to the west, Prakasam district to the north, and Tirupati district to the south.

Climate
Maximum temperature occur during the summer at 36 to 46 C, while the minimum temperature occurs during the winter at 23 to 25 C. The average annual rainfall of the district is 1080 mm, and reaches its peak during the southwest and northeast monsoons.

Demographics
Nellore district has a population of 24,69,712, of which 705,893 (28.58%) lived in urban areas based on the 2011 Census. It has a sex ratio of 983 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 5,04,941 (20.45%) and 2,15,452 (8.72%) of the population respectively.

Based on the 2011 census, 88.34% of the population spoke Telugu and 9.56% Urdu as their first language.

88.71% of people follow Hinduism while 10.73% of people follow Islam.

Mandals
The following lists the 38 mandals in Nellore district by their revenue division.
 * 1) Atmakur revenue division
 * 2) Ananthasagaram
 * 3) Anumasamudrampeta
 * 4) Atmakur
 * 5) Chejerla
 * 6) Kaluvoya
 * 7) Marripadu
 * 8) Sangam
 * 9) Seetharamapuram
 * 10) Udayagiri
 * 11) Kandukur revenue division
 * 12) Gudluru
 * 13) Kandukur
 * 14) Kondapuram
 * 15) Lingasamudram
 * 16) Ulavapadu
 * 17) Varikuntapadu
 * 18) Voletivaripalem
 * 19) Kavali revenue division
 * 20) Allur
 * 21) Bogole
 * 22) Dagadarthi
 * 23) Duttalur
 * 24) Jaladanki
 * 25) Kaligiri
 * 26) Kavali
 * 27) Kodavalur
 * 28) Vidavalur
 * 29) Vinjamur
 * 30) Nellore revenue division
 * 31) Buchireddipalem
 * 32) Indukurpet
 * 33) Kovur
 * 34) Manubolu
 * 35) Muthukur
 * 36) Nellore Rural
 * 37) Nellore Urban
 * 38) Podalakur
 * 39) Rapur
 * 40) Sydapuram
 * 41) Thotapalli Gudur
 * 42) Venkatachalam

Parliament segments

 * Nellore (Lok Sabha constituency)
 * Tirupati (Lok Sabha constituency)(partial).

Assembly constituency
The district has the following Legislative Assembly segments:

The district has four revenue divisions namely Kandukuru, Kavali, Atmakur and Nellore. These revenue divisions are divided into 38 mandals, which consist of 1,177 villages and 12 towns (urban settlements). A total of 940 gram panchayats exist in the district. The statutory towns consist of one municipal corporation (Nellore) and Three municipalities (Atmakur ,Kavali and Kandukur).

Cities and towns
The district has one municipal corporation at Nellore and three municipalities at Kavali, Kandukur and Atmakur.

Road
NH 16, NH 67, NH 565 are the national highways that pass through the district.

Rail
Gudur - Vijayawada railway line passes through the district.

Tourism
Talpagiri Ranganathaswamy temple in Nellore is situated on the banks of the river Pennar. It is more than 600 years old. Translation of Maha Bharatam was said to be done by the poet Tikkana based at this place. Lord Narasimha appears as a huge of rock in ‘Yoga mudra' in Penchalakona. The deity is known as Somasila Narasimhaswamy. It is one of the Nava Narasimhas (nine manifestations). Chengalamma Parameswari temple lies in the village of Sullurpeta. It was built on the banks of the Kanlangi river. Chengalamma Jatara is celebrated here. Somasila dam on Pennar river, Kandaleru dam on Kandaleru river are popular with tourists. Udayagiri Fort at a height of 3079 feet is in ruins. Ranganatha temple, Balakrishna mandiram, Paruveta Mandapam, Chinna Masjid and pedda Masjid reflect the various culture of the rulers. Mypadu Beach, Koduru Beach (14.41324°N, 80.17297°W) are popular beaches in the district.

Notable people
Among the politicians, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan rose to position of President of India and Vice President of India and Venkaiah Naidu rose to the position of Vice President of India. Bezawada Gopala Reddy and N. Janardhana Reddy worked as chief ministers of unified Andhra Pradesh. Puchalapalli Sundarayya was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, M. S. Reddy Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, A. Kodandarami Reddy and  Vanisri are some of the famous people of film industry. Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, T. Subbarami Reddy, Malli Mastan Babu, Ashwin Hebbar are also some of the popular personalities from other domains.