Goa

Goa
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/ o . / is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population.
Located in West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state
of aharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the !rabian
"ea forms its western coast. #oa is India's richest state with a #$% per capita two and a half
times that of the country as a whole.
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It was ranked the best placed state by the )le*enth
+inance ,ommission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best -uality of life in
India by the .ational ,ommission on %opulation based on the /0 Indicators.
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%ana1i is the state's capital, while 2asco da #ama is the largest city. 3he historic city
of argao still e4hibits the cultural influence of the %ortuguese, who first landed in the early
/5th century as merchants and con-uered it soon thereafter. #oa is a former %ortuguese
pro*ince6 the %ortuguese o*erseas territory of %ortuguese India e4isted for about '78 years
until it was anne4ed by India in /95/.
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#oa is *isited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year for its
beaches, places of worship and world heritage architecture. It also has rich flora and fauna,
owing to its location on the Western #hats range, which is classified as abiodi*ersity hotspot.
History
#oa's history goes back 08,888:;8,888 years. 3he rock art engra*ings e4hibit the earliest
traces of human life in India.
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=pper %aleolithic or esolithic rock art engra*ings ha*e
been found on the bank of the ri*er Kusha*ati at =sgalimal.
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%etroglyphs, cones, stone>
a4e, and choppers dating to /8,888 years ago ha*e been found in many places in #oa, such
as Ka?ur, au4im, and the ando*i>@uari basin.
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)*idence of %alaeolithic life is seen at
$abolim, !dkon, "higao, +atorpa, !rli, aulinguinim, $iwar, "anguem, %ilerne, and !-uem>
argaon etc.
In /7/8, the %ortuguese defeated the ruling Ai1apur sultan Bousuf !dil "hah with the help of
a local ally,3imayya. 3hey set up a permanent settlement in 2elha #oa Cor Dld #oaE. 3his
was the beginning of %ortuguese rule in #oa that would last for four and a half centuries,
until /95/.
Geography and climate
Geography
#oa encompasses an area of ;,F80 km
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C/,'09 s- miE. ost of #oa is a part of the coastal
country known as the Konkan, which is an escarpment rising up to the Western #hats range
of mountains, which separate it from the $eccan %lateau. 3he highest point is the "onsogor,
with an altitude of /,/5F metres C;,G09 ftE. #oa has a coastline of /8/ km C5; miE.
#oa's main ri*ers are ando*i, @uari, 3erekhol, ,haporakusha*ati ri*er and the "al. 3he
ormugao harbour on the mouth of the Hi*er @uari is one of the best natural harbours
in "outh !sia. 3he @uari and the ando*i are the lifelines of #oa, with their tributaries
draining 59I of its geographic area.
ost of #oa's soil co*er is made up of laterites which are rich in ferric aluminium o4ides and
reddish in colour. +urther inland and along the ri*erbanks, the soil is
mostly allu*ial and loamy. 3he soil is rich in minerals and humus, thus conduci*e to
plantation. "ome of the oldest rocks in the Indian subcontinent are found in #oa
between olem and !nmod on #oa's border with Karnataka.
Climate
#oa features a tropical monsoon climate under the KJppen climate classification. #oa, being
in the tropical ?one and near the !rabian "ea, has a hot and humid climate for most of the
year. 3he month of ay is the hottest, seeing day temperatures of o*er ;7 K, C97 K+E
coupled with high humidity. 3he monsoon rains arri*e by early Lune and pro*ide a much
needed respite from the heat. ost of #oa's annual rainfall is recei*ed through the
monsoons which last till late "eptember.
Languages
Konkani is spoken as a nati*e language by about 5/I of the people in the state but almost
all #oans can speak and understand Konkani. Dther linguistic minorities in the state as per
the 088/ census are arathi C/9IE, Kannada CFIE, Mindi C7IE, and =rdu C'IE.
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Tourism
3ourism is generally focused on the coastal areas of #oa, with decreased tourist acti*ity
inland. In 08/8, there were more than two million tourists reported to ha*e *isited #oa, about
/.0 million of whom were from abroad.
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!s of 08/; #oa was the destination of choice for
Indian and foreign tourists, particularly Aritons, with limited means who wanted to party. 3he
state was hopeful that changes could be made which would attract a
more upscale demographic