Karnataka

Literally the "Lofty Land," Karnataka is located in southern India along the Arabian Sea. Most of the region is a plateau with an elevation of 1,000 to 3,000 feet.

Karnataka once belonged to the great Mauryan Empire (c. 325-185 B.C.) and was thereafter invaded and ruled by a succession of kings. During the 18th century, the area was the seat of struggle between Great Britain and France for supremacy in India. In the 19th century, Protestant missionaries from the West contributed much to the language and literature of the people, producing and printing the first Kannada-language newspaper and an English-Kannada dictionary. Though these efforts enhanced education and other aspects of society, the Gospel took hold only slightly.

In 1902, Asia's first hydroelectric power plant was commissioned in Karnataka, and its rivers continue to be used for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. The mainly agrarian economy produces rice, coffee, sugarcane, millet and cotton, with coconuts found in abundance along the coast. The state has the most valuable sandalwood forests in all of India and is well endowed with rosewood and teakwood. Karnataka supplies 60 percent of India's silk (a commodity prized internationally as well).

Dubbed "Silicon City," Bangalore is not only the state capital but also the backbone of India's growing software industry. Sixty percent of India's software exports come from Bangalore, home to the nation's largest software company. In addition, many Christian organizations, both Indian and international, have their headquarters in Bangalore.

Sixty-six percent of the state's 52 million people speak Kannada; Urdu and Telugu are also widely spoken. The population is 85 percent Hindu, 11 percent Muslim, 2 percent Christian (a decline from almost 3 percent in 1971) and 0.8 percent Jain.

Karnataka is southern India's most spiritually desolate state, claiming only 1.1 million Christians. Many regions of the state are without even one follower of Jesus.