Puducherry: About Puducherry

Puducherry is a Union Territory of India which has four enclaves, Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe and Karaikal which were once the colonies of French. The capital of Puducherry is Pondicherry. The territory was also called Pondicherry formerly and was changed to Puducherry in September 2008.

History of Puducherry

The history of Puducherry starts with 2^nd century A.D. and it was mentioned by the name Poduku in the ancient writings. French East India Company established their colony in Pondicherry in 1674. For a short period of 1693 to 1699 it was under the control of Dutch. It was captured by British on 16^th January 1761 and was given back to French as per the Treaty of Paris in 1763. It changed hands frequently though it was with France during the independence of India. An agreement of the de facto transfer was signed between India and France in 1954. It was made as a Union Territory in 1963.

Geography of Puducherry

Puducherry is made up of four unconnected districts namely Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe spreading over 492 square kilometers totally. Pondicherry and Karaikal are enclaves of Tamil Nadu while Yanam is an enclave of Andhra Pradesh and Mahe is an enclave of Kerala. Pondicherry spreads over an area of 293 square kilometers, Karaikal 160 square kilometers, Mahe 9 square kilometers and Yanam 30 square kilometers. On the whole, there are 12 pockets in the territory of Puducherry.

Districts of Puducherry

Puducherry is made up of 4 districts as follows.

1. Karaikal

2. Mahe

3. Puducherry

4. Yanam

Puducherry State Map With Districts

State Bird – Koel

State Animal – Squirrel

State Flower – Cannonball Tree’s Flower

State Tree – Bael Fruit Tree

People and Culture of Puducherry

The population of Puducherry as of 2011 census is 1,244,464 with a density of 2500 people per square kilometer. Among them 76.06% of people live in Puducherry district, 16.10% live in Karaikal district, 4.47% live in Yanam District and only 3.37% of them live in Mahe district. 89% of the people speak Tamil, 3.8% speak Malayalam, 2.9% speak Telugu and 1% speaks French. These four languages are the official language of the territory. The spiritual reformer Sri Aurobindo originated from Pondicherry and his ashram is located here. French culture is seen here in places where French natives are in large numbers. Many people from here opt to go to France for higher studies and job purposes.

Education in Puducherry

The literacy rate in the state is 86.55% with a male literacy rate of 92.12% and female literacy rate of 81.22%. There are many high quality educational institutions situated here affiliated to the Pondicherry University. Some of them are Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry Engineering College, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Sri Venkateswaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Tagore Arts College, etc.

Economy of Puducherry

The economy of Puducherry is dependent on the marine resources. With a coastline of 45 kilometers totally, the territory has 27 marine fishing villages and 23 inland fishing villages. More than 60,000 people are engaged in fishing industry. The GSDP for 2004 was $2 billion. In 1980, it was 1840 million rupees and this rose to 37,810 million rupees in 2000. The good road and rail network has contributed to the economy of Puducherry greatly.

Puducherry Transportation

Pondicherry has good infrastructure and all the villages are connected with metal roads. The total road length is 2552 kilometers with a length of 4575 kilometers per 1000 square kilometer area. This is the highest in India and the Indian average is only 666 kilometers per 1000 square kilometer. Among them total length of national highways is 64.450 kilometers.

Pondicherry has a good railway line which was converted from meter gauge to broad gauge. It is connected with Viluppuram junction five-way line. An airport is situated in Pondicherry and it is planned to improve it gradually to accommodate bigger carriers.

Puducherry Tourism

There are many places of interest in Pondicherry. There are four main beaches that attract tourists namely,

1. Promenade Beach

2. Serenity Beach

3. Paradise Beach

4. Auroville Beach

Other places of interest in Puducherry are as follows.

1. Aurobindo Ashram

2. Chunnambar Boat House

3. Bharathi Park

4. Museum

5. Romain Rolland Library