The Mysore City is located at 7612 (East) Longitude and 1218 (North) Latitude. Its altitude is about 762 M above mean sea level and its annual average rain fall is about 28.

It is the second single largest city in the State of Karnataka. It was the capital of the former princely State of Mysore and is now the Divisional Head Quarters having a population of 6.53 lakhs as per 1991 census.

It is not only a Divisional Head Quarters but also Head Quarters for Mysore University and Railways. It is also called as a 'Garden City'. In addition, it is an Educational, Commercial and Administrative Center and one of the important Tourist Centers.

The main Tourist places are main palace, Jagan Mohan Palace, Lalitha Mahal Palace, St. Philomina Church, Chamundi Hills, Zoo Garden, etc. It acts as a growth centre for other Tourist Places in and around Mysore i.e., Somanathapur, Talkad, Shivanasamudra, Bandipur, Ooty, Nagarhole, Belur, Halebeedu, Srirangapatna, Rangana Thittu Bird Sanctuary etc. It is connected with the adjoining States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu through roads.

The old parts of the city are Fort Area, Lashkar Mohalla, Mandi Mohalla, Devaraja and K.R.Mohalla. The CMC was formed in 1862. The extensions formed by the CMC are Chamarajapuram, Jalpuri and Idiga.

The Mysore City Improvement Trust Board Act was enacted in 1903 which was first of its kind in the Country. The extensions formed by it were Vontikoppal, Jayalakshmipuram, Yadavagiri, Saraswathipura, Vidyaranyapuram, Jayanagar, N.R.Colony, etc. As a result of the constitution of C.I.T.B., the city has better planned extensions and better housing.

The Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 was enacted to provide for regulation of planned growth of land use development, for the making and execution of Town Planning Schemes and the Act came into force form 15.1.1965. The State Government declared the Mysore Local Planning Area on 30.04.1966 in accordance with Section 4 (A) of the Act for an area of 233 Square Kilometers, comprising of Mysore City Municipal area, 13 villages of Srirangapatna Taluk and 43 villages of Mysore Taluk.

The Mysore City Planning Authority was constituted under section 4 (C) of the Act to prepare the Outline Development Plan for Mysore City. The Planning Authority prepared the Outline Development Plan for Mysore City, which was finally approved by the State Government in its Order No. HMA 20 MNP 69 dated 08.06.1972. The proposed conurbation area was 58.38 Sq. Km for an estimated population of 5 lakhs by 1986.

The Comprehensive Development plan was prepared by the Planning Authority under Section (19) of the Act, which was finally approved by the Government in its Order No HUD 172 TTP 81, dated 23.09.1981. The proposed conurbation area was 92.21 sq. km for an estimated population of 7 lakhs by 2001 A.D. The local planning area remained the same.