Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu & bearys region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east and the Arabian Sea to its west. Dakshina Kannada receives abundant rainfall during the Indian monsoon. It is bordered by Udupi district (formerly a part of this district) to the north, Chikmagalur district to the northeast, Hassan district to the east, Kodagu to the southeast and Kasaragod district of Kerala to the south. According to the 2011 census of India, Dakshina Kannada district had a population of 2,083,625. It is the only district in Karnataka state to have all modes of transport like road, rail, water and air due to the presence of a major hub, Mangalore. This financial district is also known as the Cradle of Indian banking. Geography The district geography consists of seashore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The soil is mostly lateritic type, characterised by high iron and aluminium content. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Gurupura (Phalguni), Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini; all join the Arabian sea. At Uppinangadi, the Netravathi and Kumaradhara rivers rise during the monsoon and meet. This event is called "Sangam", which in Sanskrit means confluence. Near Mangalore, an estuary is formed by the union of the rivers Netravathi and the Gurupura which merge into the Arabian Sea. The topography of the district is plain up to inside the coast and changes to undulating hilly terrain sharply towards the east in the Western Ghats. Teak, bamboo and rosewood trees are found in the hilly areas towards the east. The Geological Survey of India has identified this district as a moderately earthquake-prone region and categorised it in the Seismic III Zone. In rural Dakshina Kannada, houses are in the midst of a farm field or plantations of coconut or arecanut, separated by a few hundred metres. Shirlalu village (in the Kudremukh range of Belthangady taluk), with a maximum elevation of , is the highest point in Dakshina Kannada. Climate Dakshina Kannada features a Tropical Monsoon climate (Am) according to the Köppen climate classification. The average annual rainfall in Dakshina Kannada is . The rainfall varies from at the Mangalore coast, at Moodabidri and at Puttur near the Western Ghats. The average humidity