Ballari district is spread from southwest to northeast and is situated on the eastern side of Karnataka state. The district is 15° 30' and 15°50' north latitude and 75° 40' and 77° 11' east longitude. This district is bounded by Raichur district on the north, Koppal district on the west, Chitradurga and Davanagere districts on the south, and Anantapur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh on the east. It comes under the administrative control of Gulbarga division and development jurisdiction of H.K.D.B, Gulbarga.

Census Information

As per 2011 census the population of the district stood at 24,52,595 (Male : 12,36,954, Female : 12,15,641). Rural Population is 15,32,356 and Urban population is 9,20,239. Scheduled Castes population is 5,17,409 and Scheduled Tribes population is 4,51,406.The geographical area is 8447 sq. km. It has 2 revenue sub divisions, Ballari subdivision and Hospet subdivision, which in all have seven taluks. The Ballari subdivision has 3 taluks, while there are four taluks in Hospet subdivision. There are 27 hoblies, two CMC's, one town municipality, seven town panchayats, 542 revenue villages, and 436 thandas/habitations. The rural population constitute 62% of the total population. The density of population is 290 per sq. km.The scheduled caste/scheduled tribe population constitute 39.50% of the total population. The sex-ratio was 983. The normal rainfall is 639 mm. The major occupation of this district is agriculture and 75% total labour force is dependent on agriculture for its livelihood.


The important crops grown are cotton, jowar, groundnut, paddy, sunflower and cereals. The net irrigated area is 37% to the net area sown.The main source of irrigation is Tungabhadra Dam. The Canal network accounts for 64% of irrigated area.

Water Resources

The important rivers are Tungabhadra, Hagari and Chikkahagari. The western taluks of the district are dogged with scarcity conditions with the failure of rains during successive years. Ballari district is rich in natural resources which need to be tapped to a great extent for overall development of the district.


This district is endowed with rich mineral resources. It has both metallic and non-metallic minerals. The metallic minerals include iron ore, manganese ore, redoxide, gold, copper and lead. The non-metallic minerals include andalusite, asbestos, corundum, clay, delomite, limestone, limekankan, moulding sand, quartz, soap stone, granite and red ochre. The metallic minerals are abundant is only three taluks, Sandur, Hospet and Ballari in the order of mining activity intensity. The annual production of Iron ore is anywhere between 2.75 to 4.5 million tonnes, and manganese ore between 0.13 million tonnes to 0.3 million tonnes (1991).