Coastal Andhra

Coastal Andhra కోస్తా ఆంధ్ర Kostaa Andhra
Region of Andhra Pradesh
Map of India with Coastal Andhra highlighted in red
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Vehicle registration	AP
Largest city	Visakhapatnam

Coastal Andhra (Kōstā āndhra), 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.

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.

The state of Andhra emerged to a political power during the reign of Maurya Dynasty. Megasthenes mentioned that Andhra was a flourishing empire of the Satavahana's from the times before christ. Coastal Andhra was also ruled by the famous Chalukyas in between the period of the 7th Century and the 10th century CE. This period was followed by the reign of many other dynasties such as the Cholas, the Kakatiyas as well as the Vijayanagar Empire.

According to 11th century inscriptions, coastal Andhra is bounded by Mahendragiri mountains (in north-eastern border with Gajapati district of Orissa), Kalahasti temple (in Chittoor district near the border of Nellore district), Srisailam temple (in Kurnool district near the border of Mahbubnagar district and Prakasham district).

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