Anantapur

Geography

Anantapur is located at 14.68°N 77.6°E / 14.68; 77.6. It has an average elevation of 335 m (1,099 ft). It is located at a distance of 356 km from Hyderabad and 484 km from Vijayawada.

Climate

Anantapur 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. Anantapur 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

As of 2011 census, Anantapur has a population of 262,340. 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 is the official and widely spoken language. Whereas Urdu, Kannada and English are the minority languages spoken in the city.

Governance

Civic administration

Anantapur Municipal Corporation is the civic body of Anantapur.

Public utilities

Anantapur Drinking Water Supply Project and Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust have also step forward in supplying clean water and concentrated mainly on eradicating fluorosis. The corporation supplies chlorinated water to the city from the summer storage tank located in the town.

Transport

Anantapur is well connected to the nearby major cities with National Highway 7 and National Highway 205 of National Highway network of India. The NH–7 connects it to Bangalore and NH–205 connects it to Chennai via Renigunta. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation operates bus services from Anantapur bus station. The city has a total road length of 298.12 km.

Anantapur provides rail connectivity for the city and is classified as an A–category station in Guntakal railway division of South Central Railway zone.

Culture

There are a few notable people from the town with their contributions to various fields such as politics, film industry and other areas. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the former President of India and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Paidi Lakshmayya was the first member of Parliament from Anantapur lok sabha constituency; Kallur Subba Rao was an Indian freedom activist and was the first speaker of Andhra Assembly; Kadiri Venkata Reddy was an Indian film director, writer and also a producer, Sathya Sai Baba, a Hindu spiritual leader; Bellary Raghava was an Indian playwright, thespian and film actor.

Cuisine

Millets such as, Jowar, Bajra, Ragi are the food grains which are mostly used in food items.

Cityscape

Neighbourhoods and landmarks in and around the city are :- Clock tower, Sapthagiri circle, ISKCON temple, the railway station area etc.

Education

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools of the School Education Department of the state. The medium of instruction followed by different schools are English, Telugu.

Anantapur is an important education centre of the district which has many schools, colleges and universities. Prominent institutions and universities include, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, JNTU Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai University, Government Medical College, Arts College , etc.

Sports

Anantapur has many sports facilities and has played host to Irani Cup in 1963–64 when Rest of India scored their lowest total of 83 against the then Ranji trophy winners Bombay, played at the Sanjeeva Reddy stadium. Several Ranji trophy matches and other regional tournaments for basketball, badminton, etc. have been hosted in Anantapur.

The Anantapur Sports Village (ASV), located alongside the National Highway 7. The Ananthapur Cricket Ground sits within a 40-acre (160,000 m²) complex which is managed by the Rural Development Trust (RDT). In October 2010, Rafael Nadal opened the Rafael Nadal Tennis School in ASV, which hosts district, state and national-level tournaments, as well as laying equal emphasis on the children's education and tennis training.