Kodagu district (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies an area of 4,102 square kilometres (1,584 sq mi) in the Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. In 2001 its population was 548,561, 13.74% of which resided in the district's urban centre, making it the least populous of the 31 districts in Karnataka. The nearest railway stations are Mysore Junction, located around 95 km (59 mi) away, Thalassery, and Kannur, the latter two located in Kerala at a distance of about 79 km (49 mi). The nearest airports are Kannur International Airport in Kerala (90 km (56 mi) from Madikeri) and Mangalore International Airport (144 km (89 mi) from Madikeri). From Wikipedia