Vizianagaram District - Geography

Geography

It is situated within the geographical co-ordinates of 17- 15’ and 19 – 15’ of the northern latitudes and 83 – 00’ and 83-45’’ of the eastern longitudes. Vizianagaram district occupies an area of 6,539 square kilometres (2,525 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to France's Desolation Island.

The district can be divided into two distinct natural divisions i.e. plains and hilly regions. The hilly agency area covers Pachipenta and Gummalaxmipuram mandals fully and Salur, Makkuva, Ramabhadrapuram, Parvathipuram and Komarada mandals partly. Rest of the area is plain. The agency region mostly consists of hills covered by the Eastern Ghats which run parallel to the Coast from the North-East to South-West. The average height of these hills is over 914 meters, although there are several peaks of 1,219 meters high. In Parvathipuram division, the hills are lower than elsewhere and consists of steep and rugged lines devoid of plateaus.

The main towns of Vizianagaram district was Parvathipuram on the north, Cheepurupalli on the east, Vizianagaram on the south and S.Kota on the west. Remaining main towns Bobbili and Salur in the center of the district.

The principal rivers flowing in the district are River Nagavali, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi, River Champavathi, River Gosthani and Kandivalasa.

The main soils are red soils, sandy loams and sandy clay, which constitute 96% of the total area. The predominant soils are loamy with medium fertility. There are red loamy soils in dry lands and clay loamy in wet lands. The soils at some places are as thick as 4 meters, probably represents alluvium along the valleys.

The total geographical area of the district is 6300.38 km². About 51.1% of the land area is sown for agriculture and another 12.3% land is put to non-agricultural uses. The forest covers about 17.8% of the land. About 12.3% of the land is Barren and uncultivable. About 4% land is current and other Fallow lands.

The climate of Vizianagaram district is characterized by high humidity nearly all-round the year with oppressive summer and good seasonal rainfall. The summer season from March to May is followed by South West monsoon season, which continues up to September. October and November constitute the retreating monsoon season. The climate of the hilly regions of the district receives heavier rainfall and cooler than the plains. The maximum temperature recorded during 2004 is 39.6O C during May and the minimum temperature is 17.1O C during December.

The normal rainfall of the district for the year is 1,131.0 MM as against the actual rainfall of 740.6 MM received during 2002-03. The district gets the benefit of both the South ?West and North- East monsoon.

There is a coast line of 28 kilometers in the district on the east facing Bay of Bengal. There are 8 villages and 16 hamlets consisting of 6,993 fishermen. They are situated in Pusapatirega and Bhogapuram mandals.