Karnataka is one of the four southern states of India. The state was created in 1956 with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally named State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. It 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 southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. The state covers an area of 191,791 km² or 5.83% of the total geographical area of India. It is the eighth largest Indian state by area, the ninth largest by population and comprises 27 districts. Kannada is the official language and also the most widely spoken one.

Economy
Karnataka is one of the economically more progressive states in India with a GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) of 9.2% for the year 2006-2007. The total GSDP of Karnataka in 2006-2007 was about Rs. 1940.09 billion ($ 46.19 billion). With an overall GDP growth of 56.2% and a per capita GDP growth of 43.9% in the last decade, Karnataka surpassed all other states in India in terms of economic growth and pushed Karnataka's per capita income in Indian Rupee terms to sixth place. Till September 2006, Karnataka had received a Foreign Direct Investment of Rs. 78.097 billion ($ 1.7255 billion) for the fiscal year 2006-07, placing it in third place among the states of India. At the end of 2004, the unemployment rate in Karnataka was 4.94% compared to the national rate of 5.99%. For the fiscal year 2006-07, Karnataka's inflation rate was 4.4%, which was lower than the national average.

Karnataka evolved as the manufacturing hub for some of the largest public sector industries in India such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Hindustan Machine Tools and Hindustan Motors, which are based in Bangalore. The Indian Space Research Organization, India's national space agency is also headquartered in Bangalore.