TOTAL POPULATION (1981 CENSUS): 193,432 residents
CASTE AND RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN (as percentage of total population)
HINDUS
Upper castes
Brahmins:
Kannada-speaking: 4 per cent
Konkani-speaking: 3 per cent
Tulu-speaking: less than 1 per cent
Bunts: 16 per cent
Other upper castes: 1 per cent
Backward castes
Hoykas: 24 per cent
Miscellaneous backward castes and tribals: 4 per cent
Dalits (formerly known as untouchables): 9 per cent
MINORITIES
Muslims
Sunni: 14 per cent
Shia: 1 per cent
Ahmediya, Bohra, Ismaili: less than 1 per cent
Catholics: 14 per cent
Protestants (Anglicans, Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons): 3 per cent
Jains: 1 per cent
Other religions (including Parsi, Jew, Buddhist, Brahmo Samaji, and Baha’i): less than 1 per cent
89 residents declare themselves to be without religion or caste.