Other Spellings / Synonyms : Kannadiga

Religion : Hinduism, Islam, Christianity

Language : Kannada

Regional Spread : Mainly Karnataka but a significant number of Kannada people are also present in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa.

Population : 50 million (2001 census)

Food Habits : Kannadigas living in Mysore and its vicinity cherish a typical pure vegetarian Kannada meal while those living in the long coastal belt are fond of meat, fish and a huge number of other sea food. Staple food for the Kannada people is rice, jowar (millets) and raggi.

Marriage Preference : Prefer intra-caste arranged marriages within their own caste.Kannada people seek matrimonial alliances within their own caste and community.

Famous Personalities:

• Cinema : Dr. Rajkumar, Girish Karnad, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Tiger Prabhakar, Aishwarya Rai, Vasundhara Das, Guru Dutt, Shyam Benegal, Feroz Khan, Sanjay Khan, Nafisa Joseph, Lara Dutta, Dino Morea
• Cartoonists : R.K. Laxman, B V Rama Murthy
• Music : Vyasatirtha, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Kumar Gandharva, Doraiswamy Iyengar, Lucky Ali
• Kings and Nobels : Pulakesi II, Vikramaditya VI, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, Tipu Sultan, Raaja Wodeyar
• Industrialists : Azim Premji, R.K. Baliga, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Mark Mascarenhas, NR Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Vijay Mallya, Gururaj Deshpande
• Science and Technology : Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Dr Raja Ramanna, CR Rao, Bhaskaracharya II, Shakuntala Devi, Sir M Visveswarayya, Prof. UR Rao
• Politics : BD Jatti (Former VP of India), George Fernandes, H.D. Deve Gowda, Ramakrishna Hegde, JH Patel, Veerendra Patil, SM Krishna, Dharma Singh, Veerappa Moily, S Bangarappa, HD Kumaraswamy
• Cricket : EAS Prasanna, Gundappa Vishwanath, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Roger Binny, Venkatesh Prasad
• Hockey : BP Govinda, MP Ganesh, Arjun Halappa, MM Somaiya, Len Aiyappa
• Other Sports : Prakash Padukone, Mahesh Bhupathi, Ashwini Nachappa
• War and Peace : Field Marshall Cariappa (Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army 1949-1953)

About Kannada People : Kannada people, also referred to as Kannadiga are a native of Karnataka. Kannada people are intelligent and hard-working. They have made a significant contribution in the development of India as a IT hub.