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GoaCentral > Travel to Goa > Geography of Goa

Geography of Goa

Here you will find geographical and other information about Goa. Click on for more...

Location	Local time	Area
Boundaries	Rivers	Forests
Roads	Administration	Capital
Climate	Population	Language
Agriculture	Mineral wealth	Industries
Airport	Sightseeing

Location

The state of Goa is located between Latitudes 15 degrees, 48'00" N and between 14 degrees, 53'54" N and Longitudes 74degrees, 20'13" E and 73 degrees 40" 33" E. It is 1,022 meters above sea-level.

Area

It has a land area of 3702 Sq. Kms.
It has a coast line of 104kms

Goa is bounded on the north by Sindhudurg district of Maharastra state, on the West by the Arabian sea, on the South by Karwar district of Karnataka state and on the East by Belgaum district of Karnataka state
The highest mountain is Sonsogor in the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats which is 3,827 feet.

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Rivers

The Goan landscape is bisected by two major rivers that open into the arabian sea; they are
a) The Zuari which is approximately 39 miles and
b) The Mandovi which is approximately 38.5 miles.
The other major rivers include the Tiracol, Chapora, Sal and the Talpona rivers. All the rivers originate in the Sayhadri ranges and flow westward into the Arabian sea and are navigable throughout the year.
Overall Goa's inland waterways are about 250kms

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Forests

One third of Goa is covered by forests, the actual number being 1424.38Sqkms. Of this the Government owns 1224.38Sqkms, the rest ( approx 200Sqkm ) is held by the private sector.

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Roads

For its size and topography, Goa is well connected with roads both locally and nationally via the National Highway system. The contributions are - National highways 224.00 Kms, the State highways 232.00 Kms, Major district roads 815.00 Kms, Village roads (surfaced) 2086.00 Kms and Village roads (un-surfaced) 1490.00 Kms.

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Administration

The state of Goa is the 25th state of the Union Union and has a legislative assembly with a strength of 40 elected members. Goa also has 3 elected members to the Parliament in New Delhi. The Governor is the official head of state and is appointed by the President of India. The Chief Minister heads the council of ministers and is democratically elected and forms the government and is responsible for policies of the government during his reign.

For administrative purposes Goa is divided into two districts- North Goa and South Goa with headquarters at Panaji and Margao respectively together with six divisions and a further sub-divided into 11-talukas, which are as follows:

	Ilhas
	Bardez
	Salcette
	Ponda
	Mormugao
	Bicholim
	Sattari
	Pernem
	Quepem
	Sanguem
	Canacona

The Talukas comprise of towns and villages, most of which have their own governing body-the Panchayat. Some towns also have municipal councils. The most recent statistics put the total number of villages in Goa to be 383 with a total of of 188 village panchayats. There are 31 towns with about 14 municipal councils.

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Capital

The state capital is Panaji, in Ilhas taluka in North Goa.

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Climate

Winter: Ranges from 21 0C
Summer: 35 0C
Goa receives rainfall from the South West monsoon winds between June and September. Rainfall received in 1998 was 3008 mm. This is also the tourist "OFF SEASON".

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Population

Goa’s total population is around 1,169,793 (1991 census of India) The density of population is 316 per SqKms. Most of Goa's population is rural ( 690,041), a significant population is however urban ( 479,752).

Hindus account for a little more than 64.68 per cent of the total population, Christians (Roman Catholics) nearly 29.86 per cent and Muslims 5.25 percent of the population. The remaining 1.21 percent comprise of other religions including Buddhism, Jainism, Sikh etc. The scheduled castes amount to 2 per cent of the population. There are no scheduled tribes in Goa.

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Language

English, Portuguese, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi.
It has a literacy rate of 77%.

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Agriculture

Aracanut, Cashew, Coconut, Forest Produce, Rice, Millets and Sugarcane.

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Mineral wealth

Goa is rich in minerals like: Bauxite, Clays, Iron Ore, Limestone, Manganese Ore and Silica. Before Tourism, Goa's economy revolved around the Iron and Manganese mining industry. It is still a big industry. In 1997-98 the total mineral ore production in Goa was about 17.621 million tons, of which iron ore exports comprised of 18.271 million tons.

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Copyright © 2000 Goa Central. Com. All rights reserved. Revised: April 29, 2001 .

Copyright © 2000 Goa Central. Com. All rights reserved.
Revised: April 29, 2001 .