Anantapur

Anantapur, officially Ananthapuramu, is a city in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuru mandal and the divisional headquarters of the Anantapur revenue division, and it lies on National Highway 44. In 1799 it was the headquarters of the Datta Mandalam, which covered the Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh and the Bellary district of Karnataka, and during the Second World War it was a place of strategic importance for the British Indian Army. The city stands at an average elevation of 335 metres and has a semi-arid climate with hot, dry conditions for most of the year. The 2011 census counted 340,613 people in the city.