Nellore with a total population of 5,00,000 is the 4th most populous city of the state of Andhra Pradesh and is located at an elevation of about 59 feet on the banks of Penna River in the Southern part of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The city has a literacy rate of 83% and serves as the headquarters of the Nellore District. According to the 2011 census, the total population of the district is 3 million and the literacy rate is 69 percent. 44 percent of the districts population is of the working age, out of which 60 percent are engaged in the agricultural sector and its allied activities, 3 percent in the household industry and 37 percent are engaged in the services and industrial sector. The medium scale enterprises in the region produce and export a variety of products like granite slabs, aqua products including processed sea food items, dairy products and engineering goods. Nellore had been under the rule of the Cholas, Pallavas, Pandyas, Maurya Dynasty, Kharavela of Chedi dynasty, Satavahanas, Kakatiyas, Eastern Gangas of Kalinga Empire, Vijayanagara Empire and the Arcot Nawabs. Potti Sriramulu, who had fasted until death for the formation of Andhra Pradesh, hailed from Nellore and therefore the city had an important role to play in the formation of the state of Andhra Pradesh and in the emergence of the Telugu language.
