23 Facts About South India

South India, known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the southern part of India encompassing the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, comprising 19.

Majority of the people in South India speak at least one of the four major Dravidian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Major dynasties established in South India include the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Bahmani, Deccan Sultanates, Cochin, Kakatiyas, Kadambas, Hoysalas, Zamorin, Vijayanagara, Maratha, Travancore, Arakkal, and Mysore.

Parts of South India were colonized under Portuguese India, French India and the British Raj.

South India witnessed sustained growth in per-capita income and population, structural changes in the economy, an increased pace of technological innovation.

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South India has the largest gross domestic product compared to other regions in India.

South India is known as Peninsular India, and has been known by several other names too.

The term "Deccan", referring to the area covered by the Deccan Plateau that covers most of peninsular India excluding the coastal areas, is an anglicised form of the Prakrit word dakkhin derived from the Sanskrit word dakshina meaning south.

South India is a peninsula in the shape of an inverted triangle bound by the Arabian Sea on the west, by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges on the north.

The southernmost tip of mainland India is at Kanyakumari where the Indian Ocean meets the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Important ecological regions of South India are the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve – located at the conjunction of Karnataka, Kerala and, Tamil Nadu in the Nilgiri Hills – and the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve - located at the conjunction of Kerala and, Tamil Nadu in the Agastya Mala hills - and the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats.

South India is home to one of the largest populations of endangered Bengal tigers and Indian elephants in India, being home to one-third of the tiger population and more than half of the elephant population, with 14 Project Tiger reserves and 11 Project Elephant reserves.

Some of the main crops cultivated in South India include paddy, sorghum, pearl millet, pulses, ragi, sugarcane, mangoes, chilli, and cotton.

Salem Steel Plant, a unit of Steel Authority of South India Limited (SAIL), is a steel plant involved in the production of stainless steel.

Largest linguistic group in South India is the Dravidian family of languages, of approximately 73 languages.

Evidence of prehistoric religion in South India comes from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings depicting dances and rituals, such as the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, at Stone Age sites.

The religious history of South India is influenced by Hinduism quite notably during the medieval century.

Politics in South India is characterized by a mix of regional and national political parties.

Traditional music of South India is known as Carnatic music, which includes rhythmic and structured music by composers such as Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Tyagayya, Annamacharya, Baktha Ramadasu, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri, Kshetrayya, Mysore Vasudevachar, and Swathi Thirunal.

South India is home to several distinct dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Andhra Natyam, Kathakali, Kerala Natanam, Koodiyattam, Margamkali, Mohiniaattam, Oppana, Ottamthullal, Theyyam, Vilasini Natyam, and Yakshagana.

South India has an independent literary tradition dating back over 2500 years.

The first known literature of South India is the poetic Sangam literature, which was written in Tamil 2500 to 2100 years ago.

South India has two distinct styles of rock architecture, the Dravidian style of Tamil Nadu and the Vesara style of Karnataka.