Aparānta (Aparanta) is an ancient locality.

When Paraśurāma destroyed the Kṣatriya(s) (Kshatriya)for twenty one times, and freed the earth of the Kṣatriya clan, Maharṣi (Maharshi; Great Sage) Kaśyapa(kasyapa) asked him to stop. He also told him, ‘You should not live here, rather go to the place across the southern sea. Thus instructed, Paraśurāma came there and the southern sea created a land for him, called Śūrpāraka (surparaka), which is also known as Aparānta —
tataḥ śūrpārakaṃ deśaṃ so’parāntamahītalam.

According to the ‘Bhuvanakoṣa’ (Bhuvanakosha; the Encyclopaedic destription of the world)-narrative of the Purāṇa(s) (Purana; mythological Scriptures), Aparānta is one of the five divisions of Bhāratavarṣa (Bharatavarsha). It is mentioned along with the names of the lands situated at the western side of India. In ancient times, Aparānta or Pāścātya(Paschatya; the western country) denoted such lands as Uttara Narmadā, Bhīrukaccha (Bhirukaccha), Māheya (Maheya), Sārasvata (Saraswata), Kāśmīra (Kasmir), Surāṣṭra (Surashtra), Āvantya (Avantya), Arvuda, Vāhlīka (Vahlika), Ābhīra (Abhira) and Kālatoyaka (Kalatoyaka)and so on.

Scholars identify the modern Koṅkana and Mālavāra region as alternative name for Aparānta. What Ptolemy called ‘Ariake’, seems to be the same as Aparānta.
In Arthaśāstra (Arthasastra)by Kauṭilya (Kautilya), Aparānta is mentioned along with Mathurā (Mathura), Kaliṅga (Kalinga; Orissa) and Vaṅga (Vanga; Bengal)among those lands which were famous for raw cotton production — āparāntakam. Here, in Trimūlā Ṭīkā (Trimula Tika) by Gaṇapatiśāstrī (Ganapatisastri), and Pratipadapañcikā Ṭīkā (Pratipadapanchika Tika)by Bhaṭṭasvāmī (Bhattaswami), Aparānta is mentioned as Koṅkana.

During the time of the composition of Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa (Markandeyapurana), the places were perhaps distinguished as individual localities, so the inhabitants of Aprānta have been mentioned along with the inhabitants of Koṅkana.

In Purāṇa(s) and Mahābhārata, the dwellers of Aparānta have been mentioned along with such communities as Vāṭadhāna (Vatadhana), Ābhīra (Abhira), Śūdra (Sudra), and Pahlava. So it appears that they were some non-Aryan people. According to Shafer, the term Aparānta is derived from the term ‘Aparnoi’ as pronounced by the Parthian kings, and people living in this land are descendants of some eastern-Iranian community.

From this opinion, it also appears to be so that these people lived in the region from the river Māhī to Goa, in India.