What you need to know

visakhapatnam is the largest city, both in terms of area and population in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the coast of Bay of Bengal in the north eastern region of the state. It is the administrative headquarters of Visakhapatnam district and also the Financial Capital of Andhra Pradesh.
It’s known for its many beaches, including Ramakrishna Beach, home to a preserved submarine at the Kursura Submarine Museum. Nearby are the elaborate Kali Temple and the Visakha Museum, an old Dutch bungalow housing local maritime and historical exhibits.
There is a large population of migrant workers from other parts of India who have been drawn to the area mainly by the abundance of work opportunities available at local-based companies, such as the Vizag Steel Plant, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Shipyard, Indian Navy, Dockyard, NTPC-Simhadri Thermal power Plant and many other small & medium scale industries. Visakhapatnam also consists of one of India’s largest naval base called INS Kalinga, which is about 25 kms. away from the city center.

Population: 1,728,128(2011)
Area: 540 km²

Currency

The Indian rupee (Rs) is India’s currency, and comes in denominations of Rs1,000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 notes. Coins come in denominations of Rs5, 2 and 1, as well as 50 and 25 paise. There are 100 paise in a rupee.
You can’t exchange Indian rupees outside of the country so if you’re going to need money to get to your hotel, you must head to the airport’s exchange bureau when you arrive.
The best exchange rates are offered by the banks in India, however the cheapest option is to withdraw cash from the ATMs as they are convenient and give the most competitive rates. You’ll find no shortage of unauthorised money changers, but it’s inadvisable to use them as you could be cheated easily.
ATMs are widely available in the big cities across India and they typically accept Cirrus and PLUS. Most ATMs allow you to withdraw Rs10,000 at a time, which is roughly US$200. Credit cards are accepted in the larger restaurants, hotels and shops, with Visa and MasterCard being the most popular; expect a two per cent service change. Traveller’s cheques are accepted at banks, hotels and some restaurants.

Climate

Visakhapatnam has a tropical climate. When compared with winter, the summers have much more rainfall. The climate here is classified as Aw by the Köppen-Geiger system. The average annual temperature is 27.8 °C in Visakhapatnam. In a year, the average rainfall is 1008 mm. The driest month is December, with 6 mm of rainfall. In October, the precipitation reaches its peak, with an average of 259 mm. The warmest month of the year is May, with an average temperature of 31.2 °C. At 23.5 °C on average, January is the coldest month of the year.

Language

Telugu is the official language of Visakhapatnam. Two dialects of Telugu are spoken by the people, the common dialect and the Uttarandhra (North Eastern Andhra) dialect. The latter is mainly spoken by the people who originally belong to the districts of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. A cosmopolitan population of Visakhapatnam comprise Tamils, Malayalis, Sindhis and Kannadigas, and also Odias, Bengalis and Bihari migrants from other regions of India. People from other states are also present due to the presence of Naval base and high concentration of public-sector employers.

Health

In Visakhapatnam, there are many Government as well as Private Super Speciality Hospitals, which caters the needs of public for their health issues.
As Visakhapatnam is going to develop as a smart city, public health system to be improved a lot and the government has to take all the measures to improve the facilities in the Government Hospitals.
For making cities smart, we must make healthcare affordable first.
AP State Govt is providing health cards (free hospitalization charges upto a certain limit) for Government Employees.
Government with private participation providing free ambulance service 108.
Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (A Unit of Tata Memorial Center) at Aganampudi on a 77-acre site, is all set to enter a new phase with the contractor concerned beginning the Rs. 154-crore civil works.

Economy

Visakhapatnam’s economy ranks as the eighth-largest among Indian cities, with a GDP of $26 Billion (USD). Visakhapatnam is the principal commercial hub of the state, and contributes to its economy in many sectors such as heavy industries, tourism, industrial minerals, fishing, pharma and information technology. Visakhapatnam Port is the fifth busiest port in India in terms of cargo handled. Visakhapatnam is home to the oldest shipyard and the only natural harbour on the east coast of India.

Education

Visakhapatnam is considered as a centre for education in Andhra Pradesh and there are a number of primary, high schools and colleges in the city. In addition to state-run schools there are private institutions, missionary schools and colleges.
Primary education: St. Aloysius Anglo Indian High School was established in the year 1847.The one of the oldest school in city with 168 years history. Timpany, Delhi, Bethany School are the others. There are Kendriya vidyalaya’s which are situated in NAD, Steel plant, Industrial estate and Waltair which are affiliated to CBSE. City also has many schools which teaches State Syllabus, ICSE, CBSE.
Secondary education: Established in 1878, A.V.N. College is one of the city’s oldest educational institutions.
Universities: Visakhapatnam is the home to Andhra University (AU), established in 1926. President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was vice-chancellor of the university between 1931 and 1936. Other famous faculty associated with this university include the Nobelist Sir C. V. Raman, the famous statistician Dr. C. R. Rao as well as the famous mathematician Dr. S. Meenaskhisundaram.
AU and its affiliated colleges provide education to thousands of students up to Postgraduation in many fields. The AU College of Pharmacy is the second-oldest pharmacy college in India. The university is in the process of obtaining IIEST status.
Andhra Medical College, established in 1902, is the home of several teaching hospitals. Andhra University College of Engineering (Autonomous), The GITAM University (the first private university in Andhra Pradesh) and the Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering are other technical-education institutions in the city.
Visakhapatnam is also home to Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, which is the National Law University for the state of Andhra Pradesh. DSNLU takes entrance through Common Law Admission Test and ranks 15th by order of establishment among the 17 National Law Universities. Vizag is due to get India’s First Packaging park with an Indian Institute of Packaging, IIP and BITS Pilani & Birla International School under the aegis of Sarala Birla Academy.
The Indian Maritime University was established as a central university by the government of India by an act of Parliament (the Indian Maritime University Act 2008). IMU is poised to play a role in the development of human resources for the maritime sector. Visakhapatnam also has the National Institute of Oceanography. The Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy are the other institutions of national importance.

Getting Around

Buses, autorickshaws and cabs are available for transportation within the city.
State-operated city buses are available from RTC Complex (sometimes simply referred to as Complex, and rarely, but more formally known as Dwaraka Bus Complex) to almost all places in and around the city. Just politely ask a local which bus to catch for your destination and you will be easily guided. Tickets can be purchased from the bus conductor on board. Bus rides are very good to experience the city in a non-touristy way and also they save you from the money-fleecing autorickshaws (which do not have pre-defined or fixed tariffs), but during peak hours(7:50 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 6:30 pm) on certain routes, a bus ride could end up taking a lot more of your time.
Railway station is just 10 minutes drive from complex. Trains are available for travel to nearby tourist places like Araku.
There are many car rental companies available. Note cabs have to be pre-booked on an hourly or day basis; unreserved cabs, unlike the autorickshaws, do not ply on roads and hence cannot be directly hired from the roads.
Buses – Mini & Big Coaches on Rental, Hire – A/c and Non A/c – through Fleet Owners. . Private cabs like Uber, Ola have started rides within the city.