The Karnataka state, confined roughly within 11.5° N and 18.5° N latitude and 74° E and 78.5° E longitude, is situated on a table land at the point where the western and eastern Ghat range enclose the Nilgiri hill complex. It is enclosed by chains of mountains to its west, east, and south. The state consists mainly of plateau, with a higher elevation of 600 to 900 m amsl in small portions of the extreme north and northwest Karnataka and the whole of the southern half, an elevation of 300 to 600 m amsl in the north, and an elevation of less than 300 m amsl in the narrow coastal belt of the state (see map above). Using Koppen’s climatic classification, the state is classified into three main parts, coastal Karnataka (CK), north interior Karnataka (NIK), and south interior Karnataka (SIK)
