Location :  Central Karnataka                      Area in Sq.Kms : 9,885
Percent of State's Area : 5.15                      Population in 1991 : 1,890,092
Rank :13                                                     Numder of Taluks : 8
Number of Grama Panchayats : 222             Number of Taluk and Urban
Distance From Bangalore :  306 Kms           Agglomerations : 11

Important jatra :

Place	Month	Deity/Saint	No of days	Approximate attendence
Mailara	April	Mailaralinga	4	2 lakhs
Hampi	February	Virupaksha Swamy	4	2 lakhs
Bellary	February	Malleshwara Swamy	7	80,000
Kurugodu	April	Basaveshwara	2	50,000
Sandur	November	Kumara Swamy	4	20,000
Yeshavantanagar	April	Siddarameshwara	2	50,000
Kottur	January-February	Basaveshvara	4	50,000

Bellary,is a district headquarters.It has spread round two rocky hills, and one of them called Balahari Betta has a temple.The Fort was built round the hill in Vijayanagar times.It passed into the hands of Bijapur,Marathas,the Nizam and Haider.After the fall of Tipu,the town was ceded to the British by the Nizam.The Durgamma temple here has the deity represented by the heap of earth.The place has two large mosques.A Government Medical College was founded here in 1961.