Karnataka is endowed with fairly rich mineral wealth distributed more or less evenly all over its territory. It has one of the oldest Geological Survey Department in the Country, started as far back as 1880. The State is endowed with rich deposits of asbestos, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, gold, iron ore, kaolin, limestone, magnesite, Manganese, ochre, quartz and silica sand. It is also the sole producer of felsite, moulding sand (63%) and fuchsite quartzite (57%).

Karnataka is the major gold producing State in the Country with the two major mines located in the districts of Kolar and Raichur. The gold mines at Kolar and Hutti are producing about 3,000 kg of gold, about 84% of countries production per annum. Karnataka is very rich in Iron and Manganese ores. The iron-ores of Bellary-Hospet region are considered to be one of the World's best iron ores. The total reserve of high grade iron ore available in the State are of the order of 1,000 Million tones.

Karnataka has earned international fame for the Ornamental Granites with different hues. It has granite rock's spread over 4200 Sq.kms.

Karnataka accounts for about six percent of the country's surface water resources of 17 Lakh million cubic meters (Mcum) About 40 percent of this is available in the east flowing rivers and the remaining from the west flowing rivers.

There are seven river basins formed by the Krishna, Cauvery, Godavari, West flowing rivers, North Pennar, South Pennar & Palar.

For Meteorological purposes, the State has been divided into three sub-divisions namely (a) Coastal Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada Districts), (b) North Interior Karnataka (Belgaum Bidar, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gulbarga and Raichur Districts) and (c) South Interior Karnataka (the remaining Districts of Bangalore Rural, Bangalore, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Kodagu, Hassan, Kolar, Mysore, Mandya, Shimoga and Tumkur Districts).

The State enjoys three distinct climates varying with the seasons. The winter season from January to February is followed by summer season from March to May. The period from October to December forms the post-monsoon season.

The period from October to March, covering the post-Monsoon and winter seasons, is generally pleasant over the entire State except during a few spells of rain associated with north-east monsoon which affects the south-eastern parts of the State during October to December. The months April and May are hot, very dry and generally uncomfortable. Weather tends to be oppressive during June due to high humidity and temperature. The next three months (July, August and September) are somewhat comfortable due to reduced day temperature although the humidity's continue to be very high.

About 38724 sq kms (or 20 percent of Karnataka's geographic) are covered by forests. The forests are classified as reserved (28.611 sq. km) protected (3,932 sq. km), unclosed (5,748 sq. km), village (124 sq. km) and private (309 sq.km) forests. The percentage of forests area to Geographical area in the State is less than the all-India average of about 23%, and 33% prescribed in the National Forest Policy. The area under forests in the neighboring States is as follows: Andhra Pradesh 62 Lakh he (9% of the total area of the country), Maharastra 54 lakh he (8%), Tamilnadu 22 lakh he (3%) and Kerala 11 lakh he (2%).

Karnataka is known for its valuable timbers from the evergreen forests in the Western Ghat region, notably Teak and Rosewood, the richly ornate panels of which adorn the beautiful chambers of the Two Houses of Karnataka Legislature.