AP District-Wise Fact Sheet: All 28 Districts for APPSC & Police Exams

District questions look easy until the options include a town that moved, a headquarters that changed or a landmark that now sits in a different district than your old textbook says. Andhra Pradesh went from 13 districts to 26 in 2022 and then to 28 in December 2025, and examiners know that many candidates still carry an older map in their heads. This fact sheet gives you the current list, the headquarters and one examinable anchor per district, plus the rules for answering date-sensitive questions. It was re-checked against official sources in October 2026, and the result is explained in the first section because it settles the question in the title: the count is 28.

It condenses the study book AP District Fact Book: 28 Districts, which adds numbered maps, transect routes and six practice sets. For the physical backdrop, read the AP geography notes on rivers, districts and ports, and for the wider exam picture see the Andhra Pradesh hub. A Telugu version of this post is available at AP జిల్లా వాస్తవ పట్టిక: 28 జిల్లాలు.

Verify before the exam: district names, headquarters and mandal lists are administrative facts that change by notification. Confirm against the latest Gazette and the official district portal.

1. How many districts: what was verified in October 2026

The question was whether Andhra Pradesh has 28 districts as on October 2026, and whether a later reorganisation has changed that. The evidence points one way.

• The Government's own line. The Andhra Pradesh Government formed Markapuram and Polavaram districts with effect from 31 December 2025, taking the count from 26 to 28. Wikipedia's district list reproduces this sentence, and it is consistent across the press reports of the decision. The ETV Bharat report on the cabinet decision and The News Minute report on the new districts both give the total as 28.
• The Gazette references. News reports cite two Government Orders of the Revenue (Lands-IV) Department dated 30 December 2025 (G.O.Ms. Nos. 517 and 524) for the two new districts. I could not open the Gazette text itself, so treat the numbers as reported rather than verified.
• The effective date has two versions. Wikipedia and The News Minute say the districts were added on 31 December 2025. Some other reports say the final notifications were issued on 31 December and the whole reorganisation took effect from 1 January 2026. For an exam, 31 December 2025 is the commonly stated date; read the question for any hint of the other.
• The 29-district proposal that did not happen. In late November 2025 the proposal on the table was for three new districts: Polavaram, Markapuram and Madanapalle, which would have made 29. The final cabinet decision created only two. Madanapalle became the headquarters of the existing Annamayya district in place of Rayachoti, and Rayachoti stayed inside Annamayya. The Annamayya district portal now shows a Madanapalle district map in its gallery. So there is no Madanapalle district, and "29" belongs to a proposal.
• No later change was found. I searched for any 2026 notification adding or merging districts and found none. A Deccan Chronicle report of April 2026 on the new state map describes the current count as 28. As on October 2026, the state has 28 districts.

The ETV Bharat and The Hans India reports on the cabinet decisions also say that of the 26 districts, proposals were received for changes in 17, and that 25 changes were made in those 17 districts. The same reports say that five new revenue divisions were created (Nakkapalle, Addanki, Peeleru, Madakasira and Banaganapalle), that the Adoni mandal in Kurnool district was divided to create a new mandal, and that some assembly segments were shifted between districts. The reports describe Rajampet moving into YSR Kadapa, Railway Koduru moving into Tirupati and three mandals of the Gudur segment moving into Nellore. These are press-reported details; the Gazette is the authority for any of them.

2. The timeline: 13, 26, 28

• After the 2014 bifurcation: 13 districts in the successor State. The older history is useful for context: the Guntur district portal says Guntur district was formed on 1 October 1904, and the Chittoor district portal says Chittoor district was constituted on 1 April 1911.
• From 4 April 2022: a 26-district framework. The Kakinada and Konaseema portals quote the District Reorganisation date of 4 April 2022 for their formation, and the Bapatla portal cites a notification of 26 January 2022 that divided the former Guntur district into three (Guntur, Palnadu and Bapatla). Familiar names such as Guntur, Kurnool and Anantapur stayed but their territory shrank.
• From 31 December 2025: Polavaram (carved from Alluri Sitharama Raju district's Rampachodavaram and Chinturu revenue divisions) and Markapuram (carved from Prakasam district's Markapuram and Kanigiri revenue divisions) were added, giving 28. The same round changed Annamayya's headquarters from Rayachoti to Madanapalle.

Make a three-column timeline and enter only claims valid for each period. A 2022 list of 26 is historical evidence, not the current count. If the question quotes an older notification, answer for that date; if it asks for the current district, use the present map.

3. The 28 districts: headquarters and anchors

The numbering follows the north-to-south route used in the full book. Anchors are place-to-theme associations, not claims that every landmark nearby falls inside the district. The headquarters follow the official district portals and the Government's December 2025 announcement for the two new districts.

No.	District	Headquarters	Exam anchor
1	Srikakulam	Srikakulam	Gotta on the Vamsadhara; Arasavalli Sun Temple
2	Parvathipuram Manyam	Parvathipuram	Nagavali system, Thotapalli barrage, tribal administration
3	Vizianagaram	Vizianagaram	Vizianagaram fort; Bobbili history
4	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam	Major port, naval and industrial landscape
5	Anakapalli	Anakapalli	Atchutapuram industry; sugar-jaggery history
6	Alluri Sitharama Raju	Paderu	Araku Valley, tribal areas, Alluri memory
7	Polavaram	Rampachodavaram	Godavari-side hill and agency belt (formed December 2025)
8	Kakinada	Kakinada	Kakinada port, fisheries, Coringa mangroves
9	East Godavari	Rajamahendravaram	Dowleswaram barrage, literary and river heritage
10	Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema	Amalapuram	Delta paddy and coconut; Antarvedi
11	West Godavari	Bhimavaram	Delta canals, aquaculture
12	Eluru	Eluru	Kolleru freshwater lake setting
13	Krishna	Machilipatnam	Historic port town, delta paddy
14	NTR	Vijayawada	Prakasam Barrage, Kanaka Durga temple
15	Guntur	Guntur	Chilli trade; Amaravati region
16	Palnadu	Narasaraopeta	Nagarjuna Sagar impact, limestone-cement
17	Bapatla	Bapatla	Chirala textiles, Suryalanka beach
18	Prakasam	Ongole	Chimakurthy Black Galaxy granite; Ramayapatnam area
19	Markapuram	Markapuram	Western dry belt; Veligonda and Gundlakamma water cues (formed December 2025)
20	Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore	Nellore	Somasila, Kandaleru, Krishnapatnam
21	Tirupati	Tirupati	Tirumala temple, Sriharikota, Pulicat lagoon
22	Chittoor	Chittoor	Border district; horticulture; Kuppam region
23	Annamayya	Madanapalle	Madanapalle handloom silk and wooden toys (One District One Product)
24	Y. S. R. Kadapa	Kadapa	Gandikota, Kadapa stone, Penna valley
25	Kurnool	Kurnool	Krishna-Tungabhadra water setting
26	Nandyal	Nandyal	Srisailam, Mahanandi
27	Ananthapuramu	Ananthapuramu	Groundnut, drought-risk farming
28	Sri Sathya Sai	Puttaparthi	Puttaparthi, Lepakshi, Penukonda

4. Headquarters most likely to be tested

Pair these on a route rather than alphabetically: follow the Godavari from Rajamahendravaram (East Godavari) to Amalapuram (Konaseema) and Bhimavaram (West Godavari), then shift to the Krishna side with Machilipatnam (Krishna) and Vijayawada (NTR).

• Annamayya: Madanapalle now; Rayachoti in the 2022 structure. Attach the years. Rayachoti stayed inside the district.
• Polavaram district: headquarters Rampachodavaram. The Polavaram irrigation project is a separate thing from the district and its headquarters.
• West Godavari: Bhimavaram, not Eluru. Eluru is its own district.
• East Godavari: Rajamahendravaram, not Kakinada.
• Palnadu: Narasaraopeta. Sri Sathya Sai: Puttaparthi, not a town named after the person.
• Alluri Sitharama Raju: Paderu, not Araku and not Rampachodavaram.
• Markapuram: Markapuram itself, according to the district portal and the Government's announcement.
• Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore: the long name is the district; the headquarters is Nellore.

5. Where places moved between districts

These are the classic old-book errors.

• Araku Valley is in Alluri Sitharama Raju district, not present Visakhapatnam.
• Vijayawada is in NTR district, not Krishna.
• Tirumala belongs with Tirupati district, not present Chittoor.
• Srisailam is a temple town and a dam; for the present district, link it with Nandyal, and check whether the question concerns the dam or the temple. The Krishna board lists the dam as lying between Telangana's Mahabubnagar district and the Kurnool district of the older map.
• Puttaparthi and Lepakshi belong to Sri Sathya Sai, not Ananthapuramu.
• Mangampeta (barytes) is in Obulavaripalle mandal, which belongs to the Railway Koduru assembly segment. Press reports say that segment moved into Tirupati district in the December 2025 round, while older lists place it in Annamayya or YSR Kadapa. This is a correction to an earlier version of this post, which placed Mangampeta in Annamayya. Because it rests on press reports and the mandal grouping may be refined, check the district portal before relying on it. See the minerals and ports notes for the mineral itself.
• Atchutapuram: older lists say Visakhapatnam; it is now in the Anakapalli region.
• Rampachodavaram is not part of present Alluri Sitharama Raju district since the December 2025 reorganisation; it is the headquarters of Polavaram district.
• Kanigiri and Markapuram towns were in Prakasam district until Markapuram district was formed; the Markapuram portal lists its assembly segments as Yerragondapalem, Giddalur, Kanigiri and Markapuram.

6. Route-based recall

District blocks stick better as routes:

• Northern hill to coast: Parvathipuram Manyam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, with Alluri Sitharama Raju as the hill district.
• Godavari: Polavaram, East Godavari, Konaseema, Kakinada and West Godavari, with Eluru toward the Krishna side.
• Krishna and central plain: NTR, Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu, Bapatla, Prakasam, Markapuram.
• Penna and south coast: Nellore, Tirupati, Chittoor.
• Rayalaseema grid: Kurnool and Nandyal in the north; Kadapa and Annamayya toward the east; Ananthapuramu and Sri Sathya Sai in the west and south; Chittoor on the south-eastern border.

For project anchors on these routes, see the post on rivers, dams and irrigation projects. Each route also has a theme. The north is a hill-and-coast district set with tribal administration and short rivers. The Godavari route is a delta with paddy, coconut and aquaculture. The Krishna route has the capital region, the chilli trade and the Nagarjuna Sagar command. The south coast is the Penna delta, Sriharikota and the Tirupati hills. The Rayalaseema grid is the rain-shadow interior of groundnut, stone and mineral belts.

7. How to read a district profile

Official portals are not always synchronised. A home page may show a new district name while an internal page still carries a 2022 mandal list. When sources conflict, prefer the later Gazette for legal boundaries and headquarters, then the district portal for administration, then dated departmental statistics for sector figures. District population, area, output and mandal totals are sensitive to reorganisation, so quote a figure only with its year and boundary vintage. Never attach an old census total to a new, smaller district.

Here is what the official portals showed in October 2026, as an illustration of why mandal counts are unreliable to memorise. The Markapuram portal gives an area of 10,035 sq km and 21 mandals. The Annamayya portal gives 3 revenue divisions and 25 mandals, and an area of 6,439 sq km. The Anakapalli portal gives 2 revenue divisions and 24 mandals. The Parvathipuram Manyam portal gives 2 revenue divisions and 15 mandals. The Visakhapatnam portal gives 2 revenue divisions and 11 mandals. The East Godavari portal gives 2 revenue divisions and 22 mandals, and the Konaseema portal gives 3 and 22. The Eluru portal gives 28 mandals and 3 revenue divisions. The Nandyal portal gives 4 revenue divisions and 29 mandals, and the Kurnool portal gives 3 and 27.

Now compare. Wikipedia's district table, which I used only as a cross-check, shows 30 mandals for Nandyal and 20 for Bapatla, while the Bapatla portal text still quotes 25 mandals from the 2022 notification, and the Vizianagaram portal shows 27 mandals against 28 on Wikipedia. For Polavaram district, the district's own portal returned a not-found page when opened, and the sources I could open disagree on whether it has 11 mandals (press) or 12 (Wikipedia). The lesson is practical: do not memorise mandal totals; if an exam asks, it will quote a source. State totals are similar: Wikipedia gives 81 revenue divisions and 688 mandals, while press reports on the cabinet decision say that five new divisions took the total from 77 to 82. I did not find an official statewide figure that reconciles these, so this post gives none.

8. Names that cause confusion

Some district names are designed to confuse a hurried reader.

• Konaseema is officially Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema, and the district portal uses the short form. Its headquarters is Amalapuram, a town in the delta region.
• Anantapur is spelled Ananthapuramu in current official usage. Both refer to the same district and the same headquarters.
• Y. S. R. Kadapa is the district, and Kadapa is its headquarters. Older books say Cuddapah.
• Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore is the district; the portal address spells it as spsnellore.
• Sri Sathya Sai is the district; Puttaparthi is the headquarters.
• NTR district is named after a person but its headquarters is Vijayawada, not a place named NTR.
• Palnadu is a region name turned into a district; Narasaraopeta is the headquarters (also spelled Narasaraopet).
• Parvathipuram Manyam combines a town name with a tribal-region name; Parvathipuram is the headquarters.
• Alluri Sitharama Raju is a freedom-fighter name; the headquarters is Paderu.
• Polavaram is the name of a project, a village and a district; the district headquarters is Rampachodavaram.

Spelling variants in a question are not by themselves a trap, but where a district and its headquarters share a name or differ in an unusual way, expect the option list to try each swap.

9. Worked examples

Example 1. "Which two districts were formed in December 2025?" Recall the two names, Markapuram and Polavaram. The wrong options are likely to include Madanapalle (the proposal that did not happen), Adoni (a mandal divided, not a district) or Rayachoti (a town).

Example 2. "What is the headquarters of Annamayya district?" Madanapalle, as on October 2026. If the question says "in 2022", the answer is Rayachoti.

Example 3. "Araku Valley lies in which district?" Alluri Sitharama Raju. Visakhapatnam is the old textbook answer.

Example 4. "How many districts did Andhra Pradesh have on 1 June 2025?" 26. The count was 26 from 4 April 2022 until 31 December 2025.

Example 5. "Which district has Rampachodavaram as headquarters?" Polavaram. It no longer belongs to Alluri Sitharama Raju district.

Key facts for exams

• As on October 2026: 28 districts. Counts: 13 (after 2014), 26 (from 4 April 2022), 28 (from 31 December 2025).
• New in December 2025: Markapuram (HQ Markapuram) and Polavaram (HQ Rampachodavaram).
• Polavaram district came from Alluri Sitharama Raju's Rampachodavaram and Chinturu divisions; Markapuram from Prakasam's Markapuram and Kanigiri divisions.
• Annamayya's HQ moved from Rayachoti to Madanapalle. There is no Madanapalle district.
• Reported: five new revenue divisions (Nakkapalle, Addanki, Peeleru, Madakasira, Banaganapalle).
• Araku is in Alluri Sitharama Raju; Vijayawada is in NTR; Tirumala is in Tirupati; Puttaparthi and Lepakshi are in Sri Sathya Sai.
• Guntur district was formed on 1 October 1904 and Chittoor on 1 April 1911 (district portals).
• Mandal and division counts differ across portals; do not memorise them.

Common exam traps

1. Giving 26 when the question date is after 31 December 2025, or 28 for a 2022 question.
2. Answering Kakinada for East Godavari, Eluru for West Godavari or Vijayawada for Krishna.
3. Confusing Polavaram the district, the town and the irrigation project.
4. Placing Araku in Visakhapatnam, Tirumala in Chittoor or Lepakshi in Ananthapuramu.
5. Using Rayachoti as Annamayya's current headquarters.
6. Treating Srisailam the dam and Srisailam the temple as one question.
7. Applying a pre-2022 production or population table to a current district.
8. Assuming the district named after a person has a headquarters of the same name.
9. Believing in a "Madanapalle district" and a count of 29.
10. Memorising mandal totals from an unsynchronised portal or an old gazette.

How to revise this in 7 days

• Day 1: The 13, 26, 28 timeline and the two 2025 additions, plus the abandoned 29-district proposal.
• Day 2: Northern block and Godavari block with headquarters.
• Day 3: Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam blocks, including Markapuram.
• Day 4: Nellore, Tirupati, Chittoor and the Rayalaseema grid.
• Day 5: Anchors: rivers, temples, minerals and crops by district.
• Day 6: The moved-places list, changed headquarters and confusing names.
• Day 7: Place 28 numbers on a blank outline, write headquarters and one anchor each, then practise on the mock test page.

Ten practice questions

1. Which two districts were created with effect from 31 December 2025? a) Madanapalle and Markapuram b) Markapuram and Polavaram c) Polavaram and Adoni d) Rayachoti and Markapuram Answer: b) Markapuram and Polavaram.

2. What is the headquarters of Polavaram district? a) Polavaram b) Chintur c) Rampachodavaram d) Paderu Answer: c) Rampachodavaram.

3. Where is Araku Valley placed in the current arrangement? a) Visakhapatnam district b) Alluri Sitharama Raju district c) Parvathipuram Manyam district d) Polavaram district Answer: b) Alluri Sitharama Raju district.

4. What is the current headquarters of Annamayya district? a) Rayachoti b) Madanapalle c) Rajampet d) Kadapa Answer: b) Madanapalle (Rayachoti was named in the 2022 structure).

5. Which district has Vijayawada as its headquarters? a) Krishna b) Guntur c) NTR d) Bapatla Answer: c) NTR district.

6. As on October 2026, how many districts does Andhra Pradesh have? a) 13 b) 26 c) 28 d) 29 Answer: c) 28. The 29-district figure came from a November 2025 proposal that was not adopted.

7. Which district's portal describes its formation from the western part of the former Prakasam district? a) Palnadu b) Bapatla c) Markapuram d) Nandyal Answer: c) Markapuram.

8. The headquarters of Sri Sathya Sai district is: a) Anantapur b) Hindupur c) Penukonda d) Puttaparthi Answer: d) Puttaparthi.

9. Tirumala temple town is associated with which district in the current arrangement? a) Chittoor b) Tirupati c) Annamayya d) Nellore Answer: b) Tirupati.

10. Which statement about West Godavari district is correct? a) Its headquarters is Eluru b) Its headquarters is Bhimavaram c) Its headquarters is Kakinada d) It was merged into East Godavari Answer: b) Its headquarters is Bhimavaram; Eluru is a separate district.

Frequently asked questions

How many districts does Andhra Pradesh have in 2026? 28, as on October 2026. The count was 13, then 26 from April 2022, then 28 after Markapuram and Polavaram were formed with effect from 31 December 2025.

Was a 29th district created? No. A proposal in November 2025 included a Madanapalle district, but the final decision created only two new districts. Madanapalle became the headquarters of Annamayya.

Where can I verify district details officially? Use the district portals on ap.gov.in (for example markapuram.ap.gov.in and annamayya.ap.gov.in), the Revenue department's Gazette notifications and the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration pages.

Why do the mandal counts on portals differ? Some portals were updated after the December 2025 changes and others still carry the 2022 notification. Counts can also change when mandals are divided or moved between divisions.

Is Polavaram a district or a project? Both. Polavaram is a district formed in December 2025 with headquarters at Rampachodavaram, and Polavaram is also the irrigation project on the Godavari.

Which district is Vijayawada in? NTR district.

Do I need to memorise the number of mandals? No. Learn the headquarters, anchors and moves; treat mandal totals as questions that will state their own source.

Related reading

• AP geography notes: rivers, districts and ports
• AP rivers, dams and irrigation projects notes
• AP minerals, industries, SEZs and ports
• AP Reorganisation Act 2014 explained
• Andhra Pradesh government exams 2026 guide

Wrap-up

Ask four things of any place: where it is on the map, which present district contains it, which older label might appear, and what makes it examinable. Then ask whether the fact is static or needs a current update. The full district fact book walks through each district with maps and explained questions. When you want timed practice, pareeksha.in offers 10 Lakh+ MCQs, 100+ Exams and 5,000+ Full-Length Mocks. For the surrounding recruitment picture, see the Andhra Pradesh exams pillar guide, and check current official notifications for anything time-sensitive.

Sources and verification

Pages opened for this revision (official first):

• District portals on ap.gov.in: Markapuram, Annamayya, Anakapalli, Ananthapuramu, Bapatla, Chittoor, East Godavari, Eluru, Guntur, Kakinada, Konaseema, Krishna, Kurnool, Nandyal, NTR, Parvathipuram Manyam, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, YSR Kadapa, Sri Sathyasai and Tirupati (home pages; the Polavaram district portal returned a not-found page). Used for headquarters context, formation wording and the portal mandal counts quoted above.
• Chief Commissioner of Land Administration site (ccla.ap.gov.in): opened, but it carries no district-reorganisation notice.
• Press reports on the December 2025 decisions: ETV Bharat, The News Minute, The Hans India, The South First and Deccan Chronicle.
• Wikipedia (list of districts of Andhra Pradesh, Polavaram district, Railway Koduru and related pages), used only as a cross-check.

Not verified: the Gazette text of G.O.Ms. Nos. 517 and 524 could not be opened, so the effective date (31 December 2025 versus 1 January 2026) and the order numbers rest on press and Wikipedia. Headquarters of Alluri Sitharama Raju (Paderu), Sri Sathya Sai (Puttaparthi) and the other long-standing districts were taken from the district portals' existence and Wikipedia, not from a Gazette. Mandal and revenue division totals were deliberately not stated statewide because sources conflict. The Mangampeta placement in Tirupati district rests on press-reported constituency shifts and should be confirmed.