Kadapa (formerly known as Cuddapah) is a city in the Rayalseema region of the south-central part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the district headquarters of Kadapa district. As of 2011 Census of India, the city had a population of 344,078. It is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of the Penna River. The city is surrounded on three sides by the Nallamala and Palakonda hills lying on the tectonic landscape being sandwiched between the Eastern and Western ghats. Black and Red ferrous soils occupy the region.