Karwar is the administrative headquarters of an eponymous taluk and of Uttara Kannada district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It was the chief town of the North Kanara district in British India.

It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west of Bangalore. The town gave its name to Carwar/Karwar Street in Ballard Estate, Fort, South Mumbai near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Karwar was and still is called by the nearby southern villagers as 'Kone,' meaning the corner of the landmass before the river Kali. Karwar derived its name from the nearby village of Kadwad, which was prominent during the British India. It is derived from a nearby village called Kadwad (the British, probably, had trouble pronouncing "d" and replaced it with "r"). The present Karwar town is entirely a new settlement. During the pre-Indian independence era, Karwar was historically spelt as "Carwar".