and Tirupati on 15 September The airport is currently being upgraded to an international airport. Demographics According to the 2011 census Dharwad district has a population of 1,847,023, roughly equal to the nation of Kosovo or the US state of West Virginia. This gives it a ranking of 256th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 15.13%. Dharwad has a sex ratio of 967 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 80.3%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 9.63% and 4.74% of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 census, 70.08% of the population spoke Kannada, 18.40% Urdu, 3.16% Marathi, 2.36% Telugu, 1.46% Gujarati and 1.24% Hindi as their first language. Culture According to the modern scholar Hampa Nagarajaiah ("Hampana"), ancient Kannada poet Pampa who is also called Ādikavi ("First Poet") was born in Annigeri, a town in Dharwad district. The Dharwad district has contributed to some of the greatest exponents of Hindustani music including Sawai Gandharva, Mallikarjun Mansur, Bhimsen Joshi, Basavaraj Rajaguru, Kumar Gandharva and Gangubai Hangal. Jnanpith Award winners D. R. Bendre, V. K. Gokak and Girish Karnad trace their origins to Dharwad. Kannada writers and critics Kirtinath Kurtakoti and C. P. Siddhashrama are from Dharwad. Noted Marathi writer G. A. Kulkarni also lived most of his life. Actresses Shanta Hublikar and Leena Chandavarkar were born here. Nandan Nilekani, the Co-Chairman of Infosys moved in with his uncle's family in Dharwad for his education and was a student of St Joseph's High School. Sucheta Dalal, the Mumbai-based financial journalist, who exposed the Harshad Mehta scandal studied in Dharwad. Lucy d'Abreu (oldest Briton ever) was also born in Dharwad. Dharwad is also the birthplace of Palwankar Baloo, the first member of the Dalit community to distinguish himself at cricket, and later to become a political activist for Dalit rights. Sunil Joshi, the Indian bowler, also hails from Dharwad. Dances Dollu Kunitha It is a popular drum dance. The large drums are decorated with coloured cloth, and are slung around the necks of men. The dances are at times accompanied with songs relating to religious praise or wars. Veeragase Veeragase is popular folk dance. It is a symbolic presentation of the heroism and valour of God Veerabahadhra. Its exponents are called Lingadevaru and they perform the