United Andhra Pradesh in the context of "Telangana"

Andhra Pradesh is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India, is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official language. Amaravati is the state capital, while the largest city is Visakhapatnam. Andhra Pradesh shares borders with Odisha to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the southwest, Tamil Nadu to the south, Telangana to northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the east. It has the longest coastline in India (aerial distance between extreme ends) at about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi).

Archaeological evidence indicates that Andhra Pradesh has been continuously inhabited for over 247,000 years, from early archaic hominins to Neolithic settlements. The earliest reference to the Andhras appears in the Aitareya Brahmana (c. 800 BCE) of the Rigveda. Around 300 BCE, the Andhras living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas were renowned for their formidable military strength—second only to the Maurya Empire in the subcontinent. The first major Andhra polity was the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century BCE–2nd century CE) which ruled over the entire Deccan Plateau and even distant areas of western and central India. They established trade relations with the Roman Empire, and their capital, Dhanyakataka, was the most prosperous city in India during the 2nd century CE. Subsequent major dynasties included the Vishnukundinas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara Empire, and Qutb Shahis, followed by British rule. After gained independence, Andhra State was carved out of Madras State in 1953. In 1956, it merged with Telangana, comprising the Telugu-speaking regions of the former Hyderabad State, to form Andhra Pradesh. It reverted to its earlier form in 2014, when the new state of Telangana was bifurcated from it.

The Telugu Diaspora refers to Telugu people who live outside their homeland of Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are predominantly found in North America, Europe, Australia, Caribbean, Gulf, Africa and other regions around the world. There are also Telugus from other Indian states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Maharashtra, who live outside India. Telugus of Andhra Pradesh origin, living outside India are often referred as Non-resident Andhras (NRA). After the bifurcation of the United Andhra Pradesh, these are popularly referred as Non-resident Telugus.

The Telugu states are the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Yanam enclave of Puducherry, where the plurality of the population belongs to the Telugu ethnic-group. When put together, the region is bordered by Maharashtra to the north, Karnataka to the west, Odisha, Chhattisgarh to the northeast, Tamil Nadu to the south and the Bay of Bengal, Yanam district enclave of Puducherry to the east. The unified state of Andhra Pradesh was established in 1956 through the merger of the Telugu-speaking Andhra State with the Telangana region of the former Hyderabad State under the States Reorganisation Act. The referential term of Telugu states has been in use ever since the bifurcation of its preceding political entity United Andhra Pradesh in 2014. However, the development and official status of Amaravati remain subjects of ongoing political and administrative deliberation. Based on the 2023 Census of India, Telangana had a population of 38,272,000, and Andhra Pradesh had 53,340,000 bringing the combined population of the Telugu states to 91.62 million.