South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area (635780 km² or 245476.030 mi²). The region is also known as Dravida as is used in the national anthem. South India lies in the peninsular Deccan Plateau and is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west,
the Indian Ocean in the south and the Bay of Bengal in the east. The geography of the region is diverse, encompassing two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, and a plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra, Kaveri, and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad are the largest and most industrialised cities in the region. Chennai is termed as Gateway of South India, being one of the largest metropolitan cities in India. A majority of Indians from the southern region speak one of the languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of dynastic kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history and cultures of modern sovereign states such as Sri Lanka, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. The region was colonized by Britain and gradually incorporated into the British Empire. After experiencing fluctuations in the decades immediately after Indian independence, the economies of South Indian states have registered higher than national average growth over the past three decades. While South Indian states have improved in some socio-economic metrics, economic disparity, illiteracy and poverty continue to affect the region much like the rest of the country. Agriculture is the single largest contributor to the regional net domestic product, while Information technology is a rapidly growing industry. Literary and architectural styles, evolved over two thousand years, differ from other parts of the country. Politics in South India is dominated by smaller regional political parties rather than by national political parties. South India ranks the highest in terms of social and economic development in areas such as fertility rate and infrastructure; the fertility rate of South India is 1.9, the lowest of all regions in India.
