Headquarters: Paderu. The present district is the Eastern Ghats hill region centred on Paderu after the Polavaram split. Locate this district first in relation to the coast, the Godavari or Krishna corridors, the Eastern Ghats or the Rayalaseema plateau. These physical belts often reveal why a crop, port, reservoir or pilgrimage place appears in a district question. Read the number on the accompanying current-boundary map before memorising a headquarters. A town name on a pre-2022 map can remain correct geographically but lead to the wrong present-district option.
Exam anchor: Araku Valley, tribal administration, hill ecology and the memory of Alluri's anti-colonial struggle are major associations. This is a place-to-theme association, not a claim that every landmark in the surrounding region belongs inside the district. Keep a separate column for a river or landscape, a site or activity, and the administrative headquarters. In a map question, begin at the state outline, narrow to the regional belt, and only then select the district polygon. The order is more dependable than recognising a familiar town name in isolation.
Boundary and date caution: Since 31 December 2025 Rampachodavaram and its surrounding new Polavaram district must not be treated as part of the present Alluri district. District-level population, area, output and mandal totals are especially sensitive to reorganisation. An exact figure should carry its reference year and boundary vintage; this book does not silently attach an old census total to a new polygon. If the stem quotes an older notification, answer for that date. If it asks for the current district, use the 2026 map and official district portal.
Worked example: Alluri Sitharama Raju district covers a large northeastern hill region. A question about Araku or agency geography may use older Visakhapatnam terminology from before the 2022 split. Locate the hill polygon inland from the coast, then read the date of the source. A tourism marker is not an administrative boundary, and a person named in the district title is not a map coordinate.
Active recall: Name the headquarters of Alluri Sitharama Raju; place it on the map; give one physical-geography anchor and explain the dated boundary trap above.