Bangalore is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore has an estimated metropolitan population of 6.5 million (65 lakh), making it India's third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area. Though historical references to the city predate 900, a written history of continuous settlement exists only from 1537. In that year, Kempe Gowda I, whom many regard as the architect of modern Bangalore, built a mud fort in the city and established it as a province of the Vijayanagara Empire.

Economy
Bangalore's Rs. 260,260 crore (USD 60.5 billion) economy (2002–03 Net District Income) makes it a major economic centre in India. Indeed, Bangalore is India's fourth largest and fastest growing market. Bangalore's per capita income of Rs. .49 lakh (US$ 1,160) is the highest for any Indian city. The city is the third-largest hub for high net worth individuals (HNWI / HNIs), after Mumbai and Delhi. Bangalore is home to over 10,000 individual dollar millionaires and around 60,000 super-rich people who have an investable surplus of Rs. 4.5 crore and Rs. 50 lakh respectively. As of 2001, Bangalore's share of Rs. 1660 crore (US$ 3.7 billion) in Foreign Direct Investment was the third highest for an Indian city. In the 1940s industrial visionaries such as Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya played an important role in the development of Bangalore's strong manufacturing and industrial base. Bangalore is headquarters to several public manufacturing heavy industries such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bharat Electronics Limited Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT). In June 1972 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established under the Department of Space and headquartered in the city. Bangalore is called the "Silicon Valley of India" because of the large number of Information Technology companies located in the city which contribute 38% of India's Rs. 100,000 crore (US$ 22 billion) IT and software export market. Bangalore's IT industry is divided into three main "clusters" — Software Technology Parks of India, Bangalore (STPI); International Technology Park Bangalore (ITPB), formerly International Technology Park Ltd. (ITPL); and Electronics City. Infosys and Wipro, India's second and third largest software companies, have their largest campus in Electronics City. As headquarters to 38% of global SEI-CMM Level 5 Companies, Bangalore's place in the global IT map is prominent.

Geography
The district of Bangalore is home to seven other city municipal councils such as those in Yelahanka, Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Pattangere, Bytarayanpura and Mahadevapura. The Government of Karnataka proposes to merge these seven councils into BMP to form Greater Bangalore.