Davangere is the 102nd most populous city of India with a total population of 4,34,971. Highest employment in the Davangere district is in the sectors of Agriculture, Metal, Textile, Wooden furniture and other household industries. 60% of the workforce is employed in the Agricultural Sector, 36% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 4% are Household workers. The major exportable items are Sugar and Cotton yarn. A major part of the district lies in Krishna basin and is drained by Tungabhadra & Chikka Hagari Rivers. The other major streams in the district are Janagahalla and Haridra Nandi. Major crops cultivated are Maize, Rice, Jowar, Groundnut, Sunflower, Ragi, Cotton, Redgram and Sugarcane. Apart from these, some horticultural fruits like Mango, Sapota, Banana and Papaya are also cultivated. Davangere was in the lands donated by Deviahsetty who was a diamond merchant.Davangere was originally an obscure village, forming one of the suburbs of Bethur. Sultan Hyder Ali gave it as Jagir to a Maratha chief named Apoji Ram, who encouraged merchants to settle there. While Apoji Ram died without heirs, the place continued to grow, favored by Tipu Sultan. Till the 1980s, Davangere used to be popularly referred as the Manchester of Karnataka due to its numerous cotton mills, many of which were of national and international repute. Availability of cotton led to the establishment of many cotton mills from prominent business families of the city. This fame was lost in time as cotton mills were shut down gradually due to labour strikes. The city, however, continues to be a major trading centre of agricultural commodities.
