Synopsis The Anthropological Survey of India launched the people of India project on October2, 1985 to generate an anthropological profile of all communities of India, the impact on them of change and the development processes and the links that bring them together. As part of this all-India project, the ethnographic survey of all communities of present-day Andhra Pradesh was taken up in collaboration with local scholars. The results of the survey were discussed at workshops held in Mysore in July 1987 and later. The identity of the Andhra, which goes back to 6th century B.C., has evolved through history. This identity is now defined, inter alia, by language, territory, couture, cuisine, folklore, life-cycle ceremonies and local forms of religion. Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of communities in India (386), including the largest number of artisans and non-pastoralist nomads. Its ecology explains the presence of numerous tribes, including the primitive groups, peasants, pastoralis