Geographically, Karnataka forming a part of the tableland of the Deccan Plateau, has often been termed as an anthropological museum, where the people of different racial traits are seen. Apart from the Dravidians and Indo Aryan races, the land has notable strains of other categories too. The Muslim dynasties that ruled over the region attracted considerable number of Turks, Afghans and other people from the Middle-East. Proximity to Goa made many run-away Negro slaves from that region, believed to have come and settled down on the territory bordering Goa, especially in Uttara Kannada and these people are called Siddhis. Of late certain settlements of the Tibetians have also come into existence. Some places on the coast like Bhatkal has people of Arabic origin and who are locally called Navayats, having settled down there for centuries. The Christian population here has a considerable strain of European element in it, as the Portuguese in Goa had married local women and considerable sections of Goan Christians have migrated to Karnataka. The contact, the coastal people had with the Arab traders helped their mingling with the local population. Moreover, various racial elements including both indigenous and foreign; various religious movements and customs have helped in evolving the Karnataka culture which has shaped the life of the people.

As stated in the abstract part of this paper, the broad main objectives in the present study are; To study the population growth trends in Karnataka state; To analyse the regional disparities in the distribution of population in Karnataka.

The present analysis is based on the secondary data and information with simple statistical techniques. The census reports of India, Handbooks and maps published by Govt. of Karnataka, District statistical reports etc., are the main sources of data and information.

As can be seen from the trends in growth of population, there was a fall in growth and decrease during 1911-21 due to epidemics, plague and influenza. In 30 years between 1901 and 1931 the population increased only about a million and a half. The rate of growth of population has accelerated from 1951 onwards. The percentage growth rate of population during 1981-91 was 21.12 as against 26.76 during 1971-81. It reduced to 17.51% during 1991-2001. Among the districts, during 1981-91 Bengaluru district has recorded the highest growth rate of 35.10 per cent and newly formed Udupi district (1997) has registered the lowest growth rate of 7.10 percent (see table no. 1).

During the decade 2001-11, the state population witnessed a net addition of 82,44,735 persons to its 2001 population of 5,28,50,562. The male population increased by 40,67,739 and the Female population increased by 41,76,996. Continuing the population growth trends of previous censuses, the State registered a growth rate of 15.60 per cent, recording a decline of -1.91 per cent in comparison to the growth of 17.51 per cent registered during the 2001 census. Among the districts, Bengaluru district has witnessed the highest decennial growth rate of 47.18 per cent followed by Yadgir, the newly created district, with 22.81 per cent. The gap in the growth rate between the first and second ranked district is a whopping 24.37 per cent. Chikkamagaluru district, predominantly a plantation area in the Malnad region, is the only district in the state which has registered a negative growth rate of -0.26 per cent. Kodagu district another plantation area in the Malnad region with a growth rate of 1.09 per cent ranks 29, just above Chikkamagaluru district.

Only 7 districts have registered decennial growth rates higher than the state average of 15.60 per cent. Of the remaining 23 districts as many as 14 districts have registered a growth rate of below 10 per cent. Rapid Industrialization and growth of various metros in Karnataka has contributed a lot towards its population. Bengaluru, the capital city witnessed a large number of migratory populations from other parts of India. With state government providing a better health services to the people, it has further resulted in controlling the health related problems in Karnataka. So with recent modernization in the state, Karnataka has witnessed a decent growth in its population. The district-wise population of the state in 2011 and the percentage of decennial increase between 2001 and 2011 are as follows.

From the table : 2 it may be noticed that, Bengaluru district is the most highly populated district in the state representing 15.75% of the total population of Karnataka state. Belagavi district is the second largest populated region in Karnataka followed by Mysuru (4.91%), Tumakuru (4.38), Kalaburagi (4.20%) and Bellary district (4.01%). These districts are considered as highly populated regions. Medium populated districts include Vijayapura (3.56%), Dakshina Kannada (3.42%), Davanagere (3.18%), Raichur (3.16%), Bagalkot (3.09%), Dharwad (3.02%). Relatively less populated districts are Shimogga (2.87%), Bidar (2.79%), Chitradurga (2.72%), Mandya (2.96%), Hassan (2.91%), Kolar (2.51%), Chickaballapur (2.05%), Haveri (2.62%), Uttara Kannada (2.35%) and Koppal (2.28%). The less populated districts are Kodagu (0.91%), Bengaluru Rural (1.62%), Ramanagara (1.77%), Yadgir (1.92%), Chamarajanagar (1.67%), Chickkamagaluru (1.86%), Udupi (1.93%), Gadag (1.74%).

Though the Karnataka state has experienced many ups and downs in the population growth and inspite of decline in the percentage growth rate the state’s total population has been increasing. The estimated and projected population for the state for the year 2021 shows the figures like 6,44,24,681 and 6,48,48,000 based on various methods. This increase in population size is a clear cut indication of increasing pressure of people on the available resources such as land, water, infrastructural facilities etc. Apart from this, the increased population triggers the unemployment problems and demand for essential services, ultimately resulting in environmental resource depletion. Hence this issue needs to be addressed through proper planning.