Karnataka, state in southern India, bordered on the north and northeast by Maharashtra and Goa states, on the east by Andhra Pradesh state, on the south by Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, and on the west by the Arabian Sea. Karnataka, which means "Lofty Land".

The name Mysore comes from the word for "buffalo town" derived from the destruction of the buffalo-demon Mahisasura by the goddess Camunda. British commissioners governed from 1831 to 1881, when Mysore became a princely state. The transfer of additional territories to Mysore in 1953 and 1956 united the Kannada-speaking peoples.

Agriculture is the occupation of about 80 percent of the population.Other food crops are sorghum and millet; cotton, tobacco, cashews, cardamom, and grapes are additional cash crops. Coffee and tea plantations are found in the Western Ghats, with Karnataka producing much of India's coffee.

Major industrial towns are Shimoga, Gadag, Adoni, Bangalore and Bijapur.

Area 74,051 square miles (191,791 square km). Population : (1991) 44,806,468.

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