pronunciation? (also Viśākhapaanamu, shortened and anglicized: Vizag or Vizagapatnam or waltair) is a port city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh(Coastal Andhra Pradesh). It is located on the eastern shore of India, nestled among the hills of the Eastern Ghats and facing the Bay of Bengal to the east. The city is about 650km northeast of Hyderabad. The city is the administrative headquarters of Visakhapatnam District.

Alternatively, it sometimes goes by its now mostly defunct colonial British name, Waltair. During the colonial era, the city had at its hub the Waltair railway station, and that part of the city still goes by the name of Waltair. It is also popularly referred to as "Vizag", a shortening of its full name. It is sometimes also referred to as the "City of Destiny".[citation needed]

The city is home to several state owned heavy industries, and has one of the country's largest ports and its oldest shipyard. It has the only natural harbour on the eastern coast of India.

Andhra University, a prominent seat of education in Andhra Pradesh, is located here.

Vizag is primarily an industrial city, apart from being a tourist destination. Tourists are attracted by its unspoilt beaches, nearby scenic Araku Valley and Borra caves, the 11th-century Simhachalam temple and ancient Buddhist sites spread across the area, the development of IT sector is fastnening the city view and growth of it.

The city boasts a submarine museum, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, at Rama Krishna Beach.

Visakhapatnam is also the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

This region, formerly part of the great Kalinga empire that stretched up to the river Godavari, has also been mentioned in Hindu and Buddhist texts from the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, as well as by Sanskrit grammarians Panini and Katyayana in the 4th century BCE.

This city was ruled by several dynasties: the Kalingas during the 7th century, the Chalukyas during the8th century, the Cholas, the Qutb Shahis of Golconda, the Mughal Empire and the Nizams of Hyderabad.

Local legend says that an Andhra king (9-11th century) on his way to Benares rested there. So enchanted was he with the sheer beauty of the place that he ordered a temple to be built in honour of his family deity, Visakha. Archaeological sources, however, reveal that the temple was possibly built between the 11th and 12th centuries by the Chola king, Kulottunga Chola I. A shipping merchant, Sankarayya Chetty, built one of the mandapams, or pillared halls, of the temple. Although it no longer exists (it may have been washed away about a hundred years ago by a cyclonic storm), elderly residents of Vizag talk of visits to the ancient shrine by their grandparents. Noted author Ganapatiraju Atchutarama Raju contradicted this [1].

In the 18th century, Visakhapatnam was part of the Northern Circars, a region of Coastal Andhra that came first under French control and later that of the British. Visakhapatnam became a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. After India's independence it was the biggest district in the country and was subsequently divided into the three districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Visakhapatnam had a population of 1,498,900. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Visakhapatnam has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74% and female literacy is 63%. In Visakhapatnam, 10% of the population is younger than six.

The City/Town

From being a tiny fishing village in the nineteenth century, Vizag has grown into an industrial hub. In the 1970s and the 1980s the city grew rapidly with a lot of investment in the state-owned Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Vizag Steel and other major industries. Economic liberalization in the 1990s brought a modest growth to the city but not as much as it did to the state capital, Hyderabad. The urban sprawl that characterizes other major cities has yet to be seen in Vizag.

It has a small airport and daily flights from Hyderabad and Mumbai. With the entry of two new budget airlines, Air Sahara and Air Deccan operating there along with the state-owned airline Indian, there has been a modest increase in frequency of the flights. Vizag Airport has recently received permission to operate night flights, and is in the process of constructing a new runway 10,000 feet long to accommodate international flights and larger aircraft.

There has been a rise in the real estate prices, mainly attributed to the Telangana movement for a separate Telangana state; some speculate on Vizag becoming the next capital. Recently various software companies such as Encore India, Satyam Computers and TCS have announced their plans for starting development centers in Vizag, which has also contributed to the rise in real estate prises. Inflows from NRIs from Vizag has further added to this rise.

Educational Facilities

Visakhapatnam is also considered as one of the main centres of education in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the home of the renowned Andhra University (established in 1926). Prof S. Radhakrishnan, before he became the President of India, worked as the Vice Chancellor of this university between 1931 to 1936. The university and its affiliated colleges provide high quality and affordable education to thousands of students not only from the northern region of Andhra Pradesh but of the entire state. Post Graduate and Graduate courses are offered in various branches like Arts, Commerce, Science & Technology, Engineering, IT, Business Management,Law and Pharmacy. The list of own and affilated colleges of the university can be found at http://www.andhrauniversity.info/affiliate/index.html

Another improtant landmark in the eduation map of Visakhapatnam is the Andhra Medical College (established 1902). The college has ushered in an era of Medical Education in Visakhapatnam and continues to uphold the prestigious tradition of engendering the finest doctors from its aisles. More information can be found at http://www.andhramedicalcollege.org/index.htm

Coming down to the primary, high school and college level,Visakhapatnam has several good institutions, providing quality education. Apart from state run schools for the poor, there are many private institutions and missionary schools and colleges all of which provide quality education. institutions. Few of these schools have been running since more than 75 years whereas St Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School was established in 1847 and is one of the oldest in India.

There is a wide diversity in which, there are schools for different boards like ICSE, CBSE and State. There are co-educational as well as separate schools for boys and girls. There are also schools for the physically and mentally challenged. Few popular schools are -

Economy

The city's growth has mostly been due to its heavy industries (both state-owned and private), such as:

Its traditional importance in ship-building is confirmed by the fact that India's first ship, the "Jala Usha", was launched in Vizag.

Vizag is also one of India's main fishing ports, has a dedicated harbour for the fishing industry and handles a large percentage of India's seafood exports.

The Vizag Special Economic Zone plays a vital role in the industrial growth of the city.

The Andhra Pradesh government has confirmed deals with Satyam and Wipro to set up a presence in the city. Satyam's office has already been built and is ready to start work. Wipro's office is coming up on the site of the old TB hospital. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has also expressed interest in setting up a research centre and a nuclear power plant here.

IT/ITES Industry

Vizag city has about 50 small and medium software and call centre units, of which about 10 units started their operations during the year 2005-06; the foremost being HSBC followed by Encore India. Software exports from the Visakhapatnam region increased by around 56 per cent at Rs 109 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2006, as compared to Rs 70 crore in the corresponding previous year. Also Nipuna, the BPO arm of Satyam Computers, is about to start its operations very soon in this port city. Other companies that are in Visakhapatnam include: OpenLogix, Miracle Software among others. Also many other IT companies like Wipro, Infosys were about to launch their operations in nearest future.

Events

Despite being on the coast, Vizag was little affected by the disastrous December, 2004 Tsunami, although the tsunami did wash the stock of some fish warehouses out to sea.

Vizag was recently expanded into Greater Visakha, incorporating the steel plant and previous areas on the outskirts, such as Gajuwaka and Madhurawada, into the city limits. This also increased Vizag's population by approximately 500,000 people.

Vizag recently hosted the Presidential Fleet, which was attended by the His Excellency, the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The Navy showed its prowess, and watching it was a treat for the locals of Vizag.

Recently such companies as Encore India, Satyam, Wipro and Oracle were planning to start their companies here and began their building construction also.

Satyam is starting the development centre, as is ITES/BPO.

Timeline of Vizag's history