Bengaluru South District | |
|---|---|
District of Karnataka | |
| Bengaluru South district | |
   _160618-43_(1).jpg)  Clockwise from top-left:Chunchi Falls,Kaveri atMekedatu,Kanva Reservoir,Revanasiddeshwara Betta, National Public School inChannapatna | |
 Interactive map of Bengaluru South District | |
| Coordinates:12°43′N75°17′E / 12.71°N 75.28°E /12.71; 75.28 | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Karnataka |
| Headquarters | Ramanagara |
| Talukas | Ramanagara,Channapattana,Kanakapura,Magadi,Harohalli,Kunigal |
| Government | |
| • Deputy Commissioner & District Magistrate | Yeshwanth V. Gurukar, IAS[1] |
| • Superintendent of Police (SP) | Srinivas Gowda, IPS[2] |
| • District incharge Minister | D. K. Shivakumar |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,516 km2 (1,358 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,082,636 |
| • Density | 307.9/km2 (797.5/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Kannada |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 562117, 562159, 562160, 562112 |
| Vehicle registration | KA 42 |
| Website | bengalurusouth |
Bengaluru South district is one of the31districts ofKarnataka state in southernIndia.Ramanagara City is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is part ofBengaluru Mysore Infrastructure Corridor.
Ramanagara district was carved out of the erstwhileBangalore Rural district on 23 August 2007,[3] comprisingRamanagara,Channapatna,Harohalli,Kanakapura andMagaditaluks. To date, it has given highest number of Chief Ministers for Karnataka of any of the state's districts, namelyKengal Hanumanthaiah,HD Devegowda,HD Kumaraswamy andRamakrishna Hegde.
In 2020 there was a proposal to rename the district to "New Bengaluru district".[4] In July 2024, theGovernment of Karnataka voted to rename the district to Bengaluru South district,[5] and said that the Revenue Department would begin the process of renaming the district.[6] As of January 2025, the federalHome Ministry have yet to approve on district renaming.[7] Bengaluru South district was renamed from the erstwhile Ramanagara district on 23-05-2025.[8]
Ramanagara is approximately 50 km southwest ofBangalore. The district shares borders with the districts ofBangalore Urban in the east,Bangalore Rural in the North-east,Tumakuru in the North-west,Mandya in the west andChamarajanagara in the south-west andKrishnagiri district ofTamilnadu state in the south. It has an average elevation of 747 metres (2450 feet).
Channapatna Taluk and parts of Kanakapura Taluk are similar to demographics of NeighbouringMandya district whereas parts of Magadi taluk are much closer toTumakuru District. Also Kanakapura and Harohalli Taluks share border withAnchetty andDenkakote Talukas of Tamilnadu so few parts here we can find different slang of kannada being used.
Ramanagara is famous for the huge rocky outcroppings. The popular places for rock climbing are;Savandurga which is 31 km away fromRamanagara, Ramadevarabetta located within the city,Sri Revana Siddeshwara (SRS) betta which is 15.1 km away fromRamanagara, Thenginkaibetta near to SRS betta and Kabbaladurga which is 35 km away fromRamanagara.
This region has several tall granitic hills which are famous for many shortrock climbs, typically 1 to 2 pitches in length. Grades vary from 5.8 American to 5.11 American. It is home to some of the world's oldestgranite outcrops. Some of the interesting climbs are on theWanakkal wall ("Gabbar ki asli pasand", "Labor pain"), on theRainbow wall ("UIAA", "Kalia"), onAnna-Thamma ("Darkness at dawn", "Black Diamond", the nameAnna-Thama means 'elder-brother-younger-brother' inKannada).
Another well-known hill isRamadevarabetta. Along withSavandurga this was one of the shooting locations forDavid Lean'sA Passage to India. Small door like grottoes was made in the rock to resemble caves.[9] It was also in this region that the path-breaking Hindi movie,Sholay, was shot.
Other famous hills in the region include the Revanasideshwara hill and Handigundi.Bilikal Rangaswamy Betta is a popular tourist spot in the district.
These hills have been threatened by quarrying and also plans to carve these hills into statues. The region is covered in scrub forest and is home to threatened bird species such as theyellow-throated bulbul andlong-billed vultures.[10] The hill is today one of the few locations in south India where long-billed vultures nest. The region is also home to numeroussloth bears.[11]
The Closepet granites are a major geological feature of this region and are from the Lower Proterozoic era. This belt of rocks extends in the north-south direction in 50 km belt. This belt has younger potassic granites and is believed to separate two distinct crustal blocks of Archaean age. The block to the west has low-grade granite-greenstone belts with iron-manganese ores and to the east are younger gneiss of granitic and granodioritic composition with gold-bearing schist belts.[12]
Historical population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Religion | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 88.60% | |||
| Islam | 10.56% | |||
| Christianity | 0.59% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.25% | |||
According to the2011 census Ramanagara district has apopulation of 1,082,636,[15] roughly equal to the nation ofCyprus[16] or the US state ofRhode Island.[17] This gives it a ranking of 421st in India (out of a total of640).[15] The district has a population density of 303 inhabitants per square kilometre (780/sq mi).[15] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 5.06%.[15] Ramanagaram has asex ratio of 976females for every 1000 males,[15] and aliteracy rate of 69.2%. 24.73% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 18.83% and 2.12% of the population respectively.[15]
At the time of the 2011 census, 83.49% of the population spokeKannada, 10.51%Urdu, 2.21%Telugu, 1.32%Lambadi and 1.08%Tamil as their first language.[18]
Cyprus 1,120,489 July 2011 est.
Rhode Island 1,052,567
