The district of Haveri is located exactly in the center of Karnataka with equal distance from Bidar in the far north to Kollegal in the far south. It is also known as the gateway district to the northern districts of Karnataka. The district of Haveri along with Gadag was earlier a part of Dharwad district. Owing to administrative and popular demand, the district of Haveri was formed out of the Dharwad district on 24.08.1997.
Haveri has a very rich history with evidence of pre-historic civilisations being found alongside the Tungabhadra and Varada river basins. Currently, it is more popularly known for a particular form of chilli that is grown in the region called Byadgi Chilli (named for the district in which it is grown) and the chilli market which is one of the largest in Karnataka.
The district has Dharwad and Gadag district on the north, Bellary district on the east, Uttara Kannada district on the west, and Davangere and Shimoga on the south. The total population of the district is 14, 39,116, which constitutes 2.72 % of the total population of the state. Seventy-nine percent of the population lives in rural areas, which is slightly higher than the state average of 69 %. The density of the population per square kilometre was 296, which is more than the state average of 275. The male to female ratio is 943. The Scheduled Caste (SC) population is 12.18% and Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is 8.84% of the total population, while Other Backward Caste (OBC) and General constitute 78.98% of the total population.
The district has 19 hoblies and 208 gram panchayats. The Haveri district has 7 talukas or sub-districts: Haveri, Byadgi, Hangal, Hirekerur, Ranebennur, Savanur and Shiggaon.
