Geography
It is the largest district of Andhra Pradesh spanning an area of 19,130 square kilometres (7,390 sq mi),[2] comparatively equivalent to Japan's Shikoku Island.[3] It is bounded on the north by Kurnool District, on the east by Kadapa District, on the southeast by Chittoor District, and on the southwest and west by Karnataka state. It is part of Rayalaseema region on the state. Its northern and central portions are a high plateau, generally undulating, with large granite rocks or low hill ranges rising occasionally above its surface. In the southern portion of the district the surface is more hilly, the plateau there rising to 2 ft (0.61 m). above the sea. Six rivers flow within the district: Penna, Chithravathi, Vedavathi, Papagni, Swarnamukhi, and Thadakaleru. The district receives an average annual rainfall of 381 millimeters.
Anantapur city is 354 km from Capital Hyderabad, 200 km from the neighboring state capital of Bangalore. Anantapur connects Hyderabad and Bangalore through National Highway-7. Bangalore International Airport is nearest international airport to Anantapur.
Economy
The economy is principally agrarian with very few industries. With very little rainfall, the district is one of the most backward provinces in the state. Prominent crops include groundnut, sunflower, rice, cotton, maize, chillies, sesame, and sugarcane. Silk trade, limestone quarrying, iron and diamond mining constitute the few industries that are there.
In 2006 the Indian government named Anantapur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[4] It is one of the thirteen districts in Andhra Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF)
Household indicators
In 2007–2008 the International Institute for Population Sciences interviewed 1009 households in 37 villages across the district.[5] They found that 94.1% had access to electricity, 99.5% had drinking water, 35.6% toilet facilities, and 61.3% lived in a pucca (permanent) home.[5] 31.4% of girls wed before the legal age of 18[6] and 88.2% of interviewees carried a BPL card
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