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Karnataka is made up of two words - Karu and Nadu. Karu means elevated and Nadu stands for land. Karnataka thus stands for elevated land as it is a state which has the highest elevation in India, averaging 1500 feet. Three major zones make up the physical feature of Karnataka and they are the coastal strip, the Western Ghats, and the Deccan Plateau.
The coastal strip lies between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, and receives moderate to heavy rainfall during the monsoons. The length of this long lowland strip of land is 320 km along the coast, having a width of 48 to 64 kms. The second physical zone is the Western Ghats. This is a mountainous land area which rises to a level of 900metres on an average from the level of the Arabian Sea. This area receives moderate to very heavy rainfall. The Western Ghats have an average height of above 3000 feet. It is the Western Ghats which separates the coastal Karnataka from the Deccan Plateau, which lies to its west. The third physical zone is the Deccan Plateau, which comprises the main inland area of the state. This area of land which is the plains, is much drier and semi arid and receives far less rainfall with its humidity not crossing 50 percent on an average.
The state of Karnataka is situated on the Deccan Plateau, and it shares its borders with Goa in the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. In the east of Karnataka is Andhra Pradesh, and the west is washed by the azure blue waters of the Arabian Sea. In Karnataka, the Western and the Eastern Ghats merge into the Nilgiri Hills.
The geography of Karnataka is spread over 1, 92,000 sq.kms. The coastal region has the most beautiful beaches with its silver sands and blue lagoons and on the other side you can see majestic mountains and tall waving palm groves lined along the roads, coursing the coast. The Malnad region of the state, which comprises of a range of mountains of the Western Ghats, has many plantations of coffee, tea, timber, minerals and hydro electricity.
The geography of Karnataka covers four seasons. They are winter, whose reign holds from January to February; the summer, which rules from March to May; the monsoon, which lasts from June to September; and the post-monsoon season, which covers October to December. The post-monsoon and winter seasons are pleasant, and are the ideal times to visit Karnataka.
The state of Karnataka has a wealth of mineral resources, which includes rich deposits of gold, chromite, bauxite, dolomite, iron ore, limestone, asbestos, manganese, ochre and quartz. Kolar and Raichur are the important gold mining centers of Karnataka. They constitute 84 percent of the country's gold production.
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