South India is the area including the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Puducherry, occupying 19% of India’s area.

Southern has five states on the mainland:
Andhra Pradesh : Coastal state with fiery food Telangana Spun off from Andhra Pradesh in 2014, centred on Hyderabad
Kerala : “God’s own country”, famous for spices, Ayurveda and the Malabar coast
Tamil Nadu : India’s fiercely independent southern tip, famous for its temples and capital of Chennai (Madras)
Karnataka : Kannada homeland, the capital Bangalore (Bengaluru) is also home to India’s IT hub
There are also three union territories:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands : off the eastern coast of India, a remote group of gorgeous tropical islands closer to Thailand than mainland India, almost equidistant from the city of Chennai, Kolkata and Vizag
Lakshadweep Islands : off the west coast of India, the rarely visited northern end of the Maldives chain
Pondicherry : a group of enclaves, former French territories, within Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh