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 Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area. South India lies in the peninsular Deccan Plateau and is bounded by the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the west, south and east respectively. The geography of the region is diverse, encompassing two mountain ranges  the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats and a plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Inhabitants of South India are referred to as South Indians. A majority of South Indians speak one of the five Dravidian languages  Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Tulu. 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 nation-states such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The region was colonised 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 decadal growth over the past three decades. While South Indian states have improved in some socio-economic metrices,The Better Half. Outlook India. July 16, 2007Also A Head for Numbers. Outlook India. July 16, 2007 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 (IT) is a rapidly growing industry. Literary and architectural styles, evolved over two thousand years, differ from other parts of the country. Politics in southern 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.

Etymology

Apart from the English language terms South India and Peninsular India, southern India has been known by several other historic names. The region has been referred to as the Deccan (an Anglicized form of the word "Dakhhin" which is a corruption of the Sanskrit word dakshina meaning south). This term currently refers only to the area covered by the Deccan Plateau, a volcanic plateau that covers most of peninsular India excluding the costal areas. The Carnatic is an English term derived from "Karnād" or "Karunād", meaning black country. The terms Karnād and Carnatic have long overgrown particular association with the plateau and refer to all of South India, including the coasts, the western of which is named the Carnatic coast. The name Karnātaka is derived from the same root.