Mangalore has the largest population of Roman Catholics as compared to other parts of Karnataka. They are mostly descended from Goan Catholics and Orthodox Christian's who immigrated from Goa in the 17th and 18th centuries. There are also some Protestants found in Karnataka. Many of them are of local origin. Protestants are the result of British missionaries' work during the British empire in India. However the British conversion was voluntary and not compulsory as Portuguese was in most cases. Due to this the Protestants are less in number as compared to the Catholics. Bangalore has a large number of Catholics as well as Protestant people.