Ballari (formerly Bellary ) in the eponymous Ballari district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. Bellari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia.

History

Ballari was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Ballari city municipal council was upgraded to a city corporation in 2004. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India approved a proposal to rename the city in October 2014 and Bellary was renamed to "Ballari" on 1 November 2014.

Geography

Ballari is located at 15.15°N, 76.93°W. The city stands in the midst of a wide, level plain of black cotton soil. Granite rocks and hills form a prominent feature of Ballari. The city is spread mainly around two hills of granite composition, the Ballari Hill and the Kumbara Gudda. Ballari Hill has a circumference of nearly 2 mi and a height of 480 ft. The length of this rock from north-east to south-west is about 1150 ft. To the east and south lies an irregular heap of boulders, to the west there is an unbroken monolith, and the north is walled by bare, rugged ridges. Kumbara Gudda looks like the profile of a human face from the south-east. It is also known as Face Hill.

Climate

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, the urban population of Ballari was 410,445; of whom 206,149 were male and 204,296 female. 280,610 of the population were literate and 52,413 of the population were under 7 years of age. The population in 2001 was recorded as 316,766.

Languages

Kannada is the largest language, spoken by 42.06% of the population. Telugu is the second-largest, spoken by 25.03%, and Urdu 24.35%. 3.04% of the population spoke Hindi, 1.75% Marathi and 1.69% Tamil.

Economy

Industries

Textiles and garments

Transport

Roadways

National Highway 67 (India), National Highway 150A (India), State Highway 128 and State Highway 132 pass through the city.

Rail

There is Ballari Junction railway station on the Guntakal–Vasco da Gama section.

Air

The closest functional commercial airport is Jindal Vijaynagar Airport.

Notable people

See

Maps

General