After Indian independence in 1947, Chittoor became part of the former state of Madras. The modern Chittoor District used to be the Arcot District, founded by the British in the 19th century and headquartered in Chittoor. On April 1, 1911, the district was split into Chittoor and North Arcot districts.
Chittoor District was formed on April 1, 1911, with Chittoor, Palamaneru, Chandragiri from then North Arcot District of Madras State and Madanapalli, Vayalpadu from Kadapa and Punganur, Sri Kalahasti, Karvetinagar from Zamindari tahsils of Chittoor District formed a unified Chittoor district . In 1960, 319 villages in Chittoor district were added to Chingleput district, now Kanchipuram district and Thiruvallur districts of Tamil Nadu, then Sathyavedu and Kuppam were transferred from Chingleput district on a linguistic basis to Chittoor district on the basis of the law called The Andhra Pradesh And Madras (Alteration Of Boundaries) Act, 1959. Chandragiri, a suburb of Tirupati, served as the fourth capital of the Vijayanagar Empire.Chittoor is part of Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.
The district covers an area of 15,359 square kilometers (5,930 square miles). The district is bounded by Anantapur district in the northwest, Kadapa district in the north, Nellore district in the northeast, Krishnagiri district, Vellore district, Tirupathur district and Tiruvallur district in the state Tamil Nadu in the south, and Kolar district of Karnataka state in the south. west. Chittoor district is located extremely south of Andhra Pradesh state, approximately between 12 ° 37 - 14 ° 8 north latitude and 78 ° 3 - 79 ° 55 east longitude. Thirty percent of the total land area is covered by forests in the district. Mango and tamarind orchards surround the town of Chittoor and livestock is reared in the district. The soils in the district are 57% red loam, 34% red sand and the remaining 9% is covered with black clay, black loam, black sand and red clay. Chittoor is located 160 km from Chennai, 180 km from Bangalore and 590 km from Hyderabad.