KANARA, the name of two adjoining districts, British India : North Kanara in the presidency of Bombay, South Kanara in that of Madras. Both are on the western coast.
forms part of the southern division of Bombay. The administrative headquarters are at Karwar, which is also the chief seaport. Area 3,946 sq.m.; pop. (1931),
Along the coast rice is the chief crop, and coconut palms are grown. In the upland there are valuable gardens of areca palms, cardamoms and pepper. Teak is the chief product, sandal wood-carving, stone-quarrying and salt manufacture are carried on and manganese is worked. The range of the Western Ghats, running from north to south, divides the district into two parts, a lowland or coast strip (Payanghat), and an upland plateau (Ba laghat). The coast-line is only, broken by the Karwar headland in the north, and by the estuaries of four rivers and the mouths of many smaller streams, through which the salt water finds an entrance into numerous lagoons winding several miles inland. The breadth of the lowlands varies from 5 to 15 miles. From this narrow belt rise a few smooth, flat-topped hills; and at places it is crossed by lofty, rugged, densely wooded spurs, which, start ing from the main range, maintain almost to the coast a height of not less than i,000 ft. Among these hills lie well-tilled valleys of garden and rice land. The plateau of the Balaghat is irregular, varying from 1,500 to 2,000 ft. in height. In some parts the country rises into well-wooded knolls, in others it is studded by small, isolated, steep hills. Except on the banks of streams and
in the more open glades, the whole is one broad waste of woodland and forest. Of the rivers flowing eastward from the watershed of the Sahyadri hills the only one of importance is the Wardha or Varada, a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Of those that flow westwards, the four principal ones, proceeding from north to south, are the Kali, Gungawali, Tadri and Sharavati. The last of these forms the famous Gersoppa falls. Extensive forests clothe the hills, and are conserved by the forest department.
has its headquarters at Mangalore. Area 4,021 sq.m. Pop. (1931), 1,372,241. The district is inter sected by rivers, none of which exceeds 1 oo miles in length, They all take their rise in the Western Ghats, and many are navigable during the fair weather for from 15 to 25 miles from the coast. Numerous groves of coconut palms extend along the coast, and green rice-fields are seen in every valley. The Western Ghats, rising to a height of 3,00o to 6,000 ft., fringe the eastern boundary. The forests are valuable and extensive. Pepper, gin ger, spices, nuts, etc., are characteristic products. Coffee is the chief export, followed by areca nuts. The staple crop is rice. There are a number of tile factories and coffee works and saw and oil mills. Fishing and fish-curing are carried on. The Azhikal Mangalore line of the Madras railway serves the district.