Guntur District was formed on the 1st October, 1904 with Head Quarters at Guntur after bifurcating Krishna and Nellore districts. Prior to 1859 there was ‘Guntur District’ with Head Quarters at Guntur but with a different jurisdiction. In 1859, the district was abolished and was divided up between Machilipatnam and Rajahmundry districts which were renamed as Krishna and Godavari. In 1904 Guntur district was constituted into a separate independent district with the areas of the Taluka of Tenali, Bapatla, Guntur, Sattenapalli, Narasaraopet, Vinukonda and Palnadu of old Krishna district and Ongole taluk from Nellore district.

Tenali taluk was split on 1-7-1909 into two taluks namely Tenali and Repalle. This district was formed in 1904 was retained intact till February, 1970.

In February 1970, while forming a new District with Ongole as its head quarters parts of Bapatla and Narasaraopet taluks and the whole of Ongole taluk were taken to Prakasam District leaving Guntur district with only eight taluks namely 1) Guntur 2) Sattenapalli 3) Tenali 4) Repalle 5) Bapatla 6) Narasaraopet 7) Vinukonda and 8) Palnadu.

With effect from 1st November 1977 again, these eight taluks were reorganized into eleven taluks by upgrading the sub-taluks of 1) Mangalagiri 2) Ponnuru 3) Macherla as taluks bifurcating the old taluks of Guntur, Bapatla and Palnadu respectively.

Later, 1980, Chilakaluripet taluk was formed as 12th taluk taking parts from Narasaraopet and Guntur Taluks.

During 1981-’82 Repalle taluk was sub divided into Pallapatla and Repalle, Tenali into Tenali and Emani, Guntur taluk into Guntur and Prathipadu, Sattenapalli taluk into Sattenapalli, Tyalluru and Rajupalem. Vinukonda Taluk into Vinukonda, Ipuru and Gurazala into Gurazala and Piduguralla thus bringing 19 taluks into existence by the end of 1981-82. Though it was contemplated in 1981-82 to constitute Amrathaluru and Tadikonda also as taluks to coincide with the 21 Panchayat Samithis yet they did not come into existence.

57 Mandals have come into existence with effect from 25-5-1985 in the place of erstwhile taluks and Firkhas. The main objective of the Government in Mandals is to take administration closer to the people.

As per Gazette No. 939, Dated.26th January 2022 the Guntur District was divided into Three Districts i.e., Guntur (18 Mandals), Narasaraopet / Palnadu (28 Mandals) and Bapatla (25 Mandals). 12 Mandals from Tenali Division and 13 Mandals from Prakasam District merged into Bapatla District.

Boundaries

The District is bounded on the North by Guntur District, on the West by Palnadu / Narasaraopet and Prakasam Districts, on the South by Bay of Bengal, on the East by Krishna Western Delta.

Demographic Particulars

The population of the district is 15,86,918 with a Density of 414 per Sq. Km. The Percentage of literary is 54.70 and the Percentage of Urban population to Total Population is 17.90.

Land Utilization

The total Geographical area of the District is 3,82,884 Hectares covered by forest is 12,032 Hectares. The net area sown is 2,36,866 Hectares. The total cropped area in the District is 1,94,882 Hectares. The area sown more than once during the year is 85,729 Hectares.

Natural Resources

Sand reaches are available at Bhattiprolu and Kollur Mandals. Gravel available in Amarthalur, Kollur, Bhattiprolu, Karlapalem and Bapatla.

Climate

The Normal rainfall of the District is 925.3 M.M. The climate is generally warm in Summer.

Rivers

The important river and rivulets in the District are the Krishna. The River Krishna Travel  about 39 KM through the District.

Developmental Activities

Agriculture

Soils

The soils in general are very fertile and they are broadly classified as Black cotton soil, and sandy loamy. Black cotton area is in 70%, and sandy loamy in about 30% of the area in the district.

Crops

The predominant crops grown in the District are Paddy and Jowar among cereals, Blackgram, Greengram, Bengalgram and Redgram among Pulses, Cotton, Groundnut, Chillies, and Sugarcane among non-food and commercial crops.

Irrigation

The Major irrigation Projects in the District is Krishna Western Delta, the Minor Irrigation sources like Tanks, Filter points, Tube wells etc., are providing irrigation.

Education

The Agricultural College, Bapatla was founded on 11 July 1945 by the Government of Composite Madras State India. It is the oldest of the eight Agricultural Colleges that make up Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh. The college was recognized to give a M.Sc (Ag) by research in 1951. In 1964 it became part of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University.

Industries

The District is famous for NSL Text Tiles in P.V. Palem mandal.

Air Force base

Suryalanka Indian Air Force base on the shore of the Bay of Bengal is located near Bapatla. The base carries out activities such as testing missiles and guided weapon firing.

Transport

The National Highway 216 passes through the town, which connects Digamarru and Ongole. State Highway 48 also known as Guntur-Bapatla-Chirala (G.B.C) Road passes through Ponnur.

Nizampatnam Fishing Harbour

The state government has decided to complete the second phase of Nizampatnam fishing harbour at a cost of Rs 451 crore. The project is being envisaged as a standalone coastal structure with a proposed fish landing capacity of 62,000 tonnes per annum.