Bapatla is a city and District headquarters of Bapatla district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Bapatla mandal of Bapatla revenue division. The nearest towns and cities to Bapatla are Chirala, Ponnur, Tenali and Guntur of 17 km, 22 km, 50 km and 53 km respectively. Etymology The town was formerly known as Bhavapattana, Bhavapuri, Bhavapattu and Bhavapatta. The names were derived from the Bhavanarayana Temple located in the town. Later, these names were transformed to the present name of Bapatla. The temple was constructed in 1465 by a chola king named Krimikantha Chola, and was later restored. Geography The coordinates of the town are and is located at an altitude of 8 mts from the coast of Bay of Bengal. Climate The town experiences tropical climate with the average annual temperatures records at . Hot summers and cool winters are observed due to its proximity to the coast of Bay of Bengal. It receives both South west monsoon and North-east monsoon as well. The precipitation is very high with an annual rainfall of about and the month of October receives a maximum rainfall of . It is most affected by the cyclonic storms that occur on the east coast. Demographics Census of India, the town had a population of 100300 with 98,216 households. The total population constituted 54,385 males and 5 6,392 females —a sex ratio of 1058 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000. 6,182 children were in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 3,156 were boys and 3,026 were girls—a ratio of 959 per 1000. The average literacy rate stood at 80.67% with 52,106 literates, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%. Governance Bapatla district collectorate The very first Bapatla district Collector is Smt K.Vijaya krishnan IAS. 2022- Civic administration Bapatla Municipality was established in 1951. It oversees the civic needs of the town like, water supply, sewage, and garbage collection. It is a Grade–I municipality which has an extent of with 34 wards. Utility services Kommamuru and Poondla channels of the Krishna Western Delta system provide irrigation water to Bapatla and the surrounding areas. Politics Bapatla, being a part of Bapatla mandal, falls under Bapatla assembly constituency of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Kona Raghupathi of YSR Congress Party is the present MLA of the constituency. The assembly