NAME: The original name of Bangalore is said to be derived from "benda kalooru", or "town of boiled beans", because a 14th-century Yaduvanshi king -- exhausted during a hunt -- was fed boiled beans by a villager where the city now stands. In November 2006 Bangalore changed its name to its vernacular original Bengalooru.
HISTORY: Kempe Gowda, a feudal Yaduvanshi chief, is regarded as the founder of the city. He enclosed the first major settlements in the area within a mud fort that was built in 1537.
-- In the 19th century, the British wrested control of the territory from Tipu Sultan, and established south India's largest cantonment there. After independence, the federal government invested heavily to make Bangalore an industrial and educational centre.
GEOGRAPHY: Located on the southern Deccan Plateau at an altitude of 920 metres, Bangalore is the administrative and commercial capital of Karnataka and has an area of 225 square km.
POPULATION: 7.2 million, of whom just 38 percent are native Kannada speakers, the main language of Karnataka. Tamil and Telugu speaking groups are substantial minorities while there has been a sizeable influx of Hindi speakers from the northern states in recent years.
ECONOMY: Today, Bangalore is one of the world's most prominent centres for software development and is the hub of India's aerospace, electronics and biotechnology industries.
-- Touted as the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore is home to software giants Wipro Technologies and Infosys Technologies Ltd., and has a budding biotech sector industry.
-- Known as the world's "back office," Bangalore accounts for a third of India's $41 billion software exports.
-- About 1,500 technology and business process outsourcing companies employ nearly 400,000 people.
-- The city is also home to about 1,000 garment units which employ over 300,000 people, earning export revenues of more than $1 billion annually.
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