| Ballari | |
| Other Name: | Bellary |
| Settlement Type: | City Corporation |
| Pushpin Map: | India Karnataka#India3 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Karnataka, India |
| Coordinates: | 15.1°N 131°W |
| Timezone1: | Indian Standard Time |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name1: | Karnataka |
| Subdivision Name2: | Hyderabad-Karnataka, Deccan |
| Subdivision Name3: | Bellary district |
| Government Type: | Municipal Corporation |
| Governing Body: | Ballari City Corporation |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Shwetha B |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 167.38 |
| Area Rural Km2: | 1609.68 |
| Elevation M: | 485 |
| Population Total: | 410445 [1] |
| Population Rural: | 360484 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Kannada |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Regional |
| Demographics1 Info2: | Kannada, Telugu, Urdu |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Rank: | 95th (India) 5th (Karnataka) |
| Population Demonym: | Ballarians |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal Index Number |
| Postal Code: | 583101, 583102, 583103, 583104, 583105, 583152[2] |
| Area Code: | (+91)8392 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Iso Code: | IN-KA |
| Registration Plate: | KA-34 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Sex ratio |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 1.04[3] ♂/♀ |
| Leader Title2: | Deputy Mayor |
| Leader Title3: | Commissioner |
| Leader Name3: | G Khaleel Sab[4] |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Literacy |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | 79% |
Ballari (formerly Bellary[5]) in the eponymous Ballari district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India.
See main article: History of Bellary. 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.[6]
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India approved a proposal[7] to rename the city in October 2014 and Bellary was renamed to "Ballari" on 1 November 2014.[8]
Ballari is located at . The city stands in the midst of a wide, level plain of black cotton soil.[9] 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 2miles and a height of 480feet. The length of this rock from north-east to south-west is about 1150feet. 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.[9]
Kumbara Gudda looks like the profile of a human face from the south-east. It is also known as Face Hill.[9]
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.[10] The population in 2001 was recorded as 316,766.[11]
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.[11] [12]
With cotton being one of the major agricultural crops around Ballari historically, the city has had a thriving cotton processing industry in the form of ginning, spinning and weaving plants. The earliest steam cotton-spinning mill was established in 1894, which by 1901 had 17,800 spindles, and employed 520 hands.[9]
The city continues to thrive in this sector with one spinning mill and numerous cotton ginning and pressing mills, hand looms and power looms.[13]
Ballari has a historic garment industry dating back to the First World War period, when the Marathi speaking "Darji" (tailor) community with its native skills in tailoring migrated from the current Maharashtra region to stitch uniforms for the soldiers of the colonial British Indian Army stationed at Ballari. After the war, the community switched to making uniforms for school children, and gradually the uniforms made here became popular all over the country.[14] [15]
Currently, Ballari is well known for its branded and unbranded denim garments, with brands like Point Blank, Walker, Dragonfly and Podium being successfully marketed nationally and internationally.[15] There are about 260 denim garment units in Ballari with nearly 3000 families working in these units.[13]
thumb|200px|Ballari railway station platform 1
National Highway 67 (India), National Highway 150A (India), State Highway 128 and State Highway 132 pass through the city.
There is Ballari Junction railway station on the Guntakal–Vasco da Gama section.
The closest functional commercial airport is Jindal Vijaynagar Airport.
See
