Geography of Karnataka

The State of Karnataka is located within 11.5 degree North and 18.5 degree North latitudes and 74 degree East and 78.5 degree east longitude. It is situated on a tableland where the Western and Eastern Ghat ranges converge into the Nilgiri hill complex, in the Western part of the Deccan Peninsular region of India. The State is bounded by Maharastra and Goa States in the North and North-West; by the Arabian Sea in the West; by Kerala and Tamilnadu States in the South and by the States of Andhra Pradesh in the East. Karnataka extends to about 750 km from North to South and about 400 km from East to West.

Karnataka is situated in the Deccan Plateau and is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the east and southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. It is situated at the angle where the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of South India converge into the Nilgiri Hills.

Landforms of Karnataka

The state has three principal physical zones;

• The coastal strip, between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, which is lowland, with moderate to high rainfall levels. This strip is around 320 km in length and 48-64 km wide.
• The Western Ghats, a mountain range inland from the Arabian Sea, rising to about 900 m average height, and with moderate to high rainfall levels.
• The Deccan Plateau, comprising the main inland region of the state, which is drier and verging on the semi-arid. The humidity in these plains or maidans never exceeds 50%.

Karnataka has one of the highest average elevations of Indian states at 1,500 feet. The highest recorded temperature was 45.6 C (114.08 F) at Raichur on May 23, 1928. The lowest recorded temperature was 2.8 C (37.04 F) at Bidar on December 16, 1918.

Area and population

Karnataka has a total land area of 1,91,791 sq.km and accounts for 5.83 percent of the total area of the country(measured at 32.88 lakh sq.km). This puts it in eighth place in terms of size. With a population of 527 lakhs, it occupies ninth place in terms of population. The population density which stands at 275 persons per sq.km is considerably lower than the all-India average of 324.

Mineral resources

Karnataka is rich in its mineral wealth which is distributed fairly evenly across the state. Karnataka's Geological Survey department started in 1880 is one of the oldest in the country. Rich deposits of asbestos, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, gold, iron ore, kaolin, limestone, magnesite, Manganese, ochre, quartz and silica sand are found in the state. Karnataka is also a major producer of felsite, moulding sand (63%) and fuchsite quartzite (57%) in the country.

Karnataka has two major centers of gold mining in the state at Kolar and Raichur. These mines produce about 3000 kg of gold per annum which accounts for almost 84% of the country's production. Karnataka has very rich deposits of high grade iron and manganese ores to the tune of 1,000 million tonnes. Most of the iron ores are concentrated around the Bellary-Hospet region. Karnataka with a granite rock spread of over 4200 Sq.kms is also famous for its Ornamental Granites with different hues.

Geology

The common types of soil groups found in Karnataka are:

• Red soils: Red gravelly loam soil, Red loam soil, Red gravelly clay soil, Red clay soil
• Lateritic soils: Lateritic gravelly soil, Lateritic soil
• Black soils: Deep black soil, Medium deep black soil, Shallow black soil
• Alluvio-Colluvial Soils: Non-saline, saline and sodic
• Forest soils: Brown forest soil
• Coastal soils: Coastal laterite soil, Coastal alluvial soil

Water Resources

See also: Rivers of Karnataka

With a surface water potential of about 1.02 lakh million cubic meters (Mcum), Karnataka accounts for about six percent of the country's surface water resources. Around 60% of this is provided by the by the west flowing rivers while the remaining comes from the east flowing rivers. There are seven river basins in all formed by the Godavari, Cauvery, Krishna, the West flowing rivers, South Pennar, & Palar.

Climate

Meteorologically, the State can be divided into three divisions namely (a) Coastal Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada Districts), (b) North Interior Karnataka (Belgaum Bidar, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gulbarga and Raichur Districts) and (c) South Interior Karnataka (the remaining Districts of Bangalore Rural, Bangalore, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Kodagu, Hassan, Kolar, Mysore, Mandya, Shimoga and Tumkur Districts).

The State experiences three distinct climates. The year starts with a spell of winter in January and Febraury followed by about four months of summer until June. The months April and May are especially hot and dry. June is marked by hot weather and a rise in humidity.

The months between October to March is generally marked by pleasant weather all over the state. There are sporadic spells of rain associated with the north-east monsoon during this period which is limited to very few areas in the south-eastern parts of the stateduring October to December.

Rainfall

The South-west monsoon accounts for almost 80% of the rainfall that the state receives. The annual rainfall across the state ranges from low 50 cm to copious 350cm. The districts of Bijapur, Raichur, Bellary and Southern half of Gulbarga experience the lowest rainfall rangin from 50 to 60 cm while the west coastal region and Malenadu enjoy the highest rainfall. Agumbe in the western ghats experiences the heaviest rainfall in the country next only to Cherrapunji.