Birur, a town housed in the Chikkamagaluru district in the state of Karnataka in India, is also known as the Gateway of Malnad region. Going by latitudes and longitudes, the location of the town is 13.5959° N and 75.9711° E. It has a mean elevation of 833 metres (2732 feet). The India census carried out in 2001, shows Birur to have a population of 22,601, out of which 11% are children less than 6 years of age. There are 51% males and 49% females. On an average 70% of the people are literate, considerably higher than the country`s average literacy rate of 59.5%. 76% of the males and 63% of the females are literate. The Sheri Christa Sharan Social Development Society carried out a project in Birur based on native herbal medicine. This project found mention in the International Conference on Ethnoveterinary Medicine held in November 1997.