Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the country's southeastern coast. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 160,205 km².According to 2011 census, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. The state has the second longest coastline of 972 km (604 mi) among all the states of India, only second to Gujarat. There are two regions in the state namely Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema and hence, the two regions are more often referred as Seemandhra by the news media. There are 13 districts with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema. Visakhapatnam is the largest city and a commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $26 billion followed by Vijayawada with a GDP of $3 billion. Other commercial hubs of the state include; Tirupati, Kurnool, Guntur, Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Hyderabad is the joint capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of 10 years.

The state is endowed with a variety of physio-graphic features ranging from Eastern Ghats, Nallamala Forest, Coastal plains to deltas of two major rivers of Krishna and Godavari. The state is the largest producer of rice in India, and hence, it is nicknamed as The Rice Bowl of India. Telugu, which is one of the classical languages in India is the official language of the state.