Travel Guide on states of South India

The Southern States of India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area. South India lies in the peninsular Deccan Plateau and is bounded by the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the west, south and east respectively. The geography of the region is diverse, encompassing two mountain ranges — the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats and a plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Inhabitants of South India are referred to as South Indians and a majority of South Indians speak one of the five Dravidian languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Tulu.

* Andhra Pradesh was formed with the transfer of all districts from Hyderabad State and some taluks from Raichur, Bidar, and Gulbarga to Andhra State,
* Kerala was created with the transfer of Malayalam-dominated territories from Madras State, Kasaragod taluk and Malabar district to unapportioned districts of Travancore-Cochin State,
* Mysore State was formed with the transfer of Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad and Canara districts from Bombay State, Kollegal taluk of Coimbatore from Madras State, unapportioned taluks of Raichur, Bidar and Gulbarga from Hyderabad State and all territories of Coorg to the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore,
* Madras State was reorganised with the transfer to some talkus from Travancore-Cochin to form the districts of Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli,
* Pondicherry was formed out of the territories that were under the control of France,
* Lakshadweep was formed out of the archipelago under the Malabar district of Madras State.

Click on the following links to get detailed guide and travel related information for the main states of South India.