Kadapa (Cuddapah), Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Kadapa is the capital of Kadapa District in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. The city was called "Cuddapah" till August 19, 2005, when the name was changed to "Kadapa". Cuddapah was derived from the Telugu word "Gadapa" or the gate in English. The city is the gateway from north to the holy city of Tirupati.

Kadapa has a large Urdu speaking Muslim population but the primary language of the region is Telugu. Kadapa is better known as the home town of the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of Andhra Pradesh. The district of Kadapa is also famous for its "Black Cuddapah Stone" used extensively as slabs in Indian kitchens around the country.

The city was part of the Chola Empire for more than 300 years before it became a part of the Vijayanagar Empire in the later part of the 14th century. Muslims conquered Kadapa in 1565 AD and then the British took away the control from Nizam in 1800 AD. It was the British who formed the district if Cuddapah in 1808 AD with Siddavatam as the capital. In 1812 AD, the headquarters of the district was shifted to Kadapa.

The Kadapa District is rich in minerals and therefore has large cement factories like Bharat Cements, Coromandel Fertilisers, India Cements and Zuari Cements. Kadapa basin has large deposits of uranium. A uranium mining and processing plant is being established to recover 28,000 tonnes of identified uranium deposits. The district projects an economic growth of over nine per cent annually.