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Goa
Goa, state of India, comprising a mainland district on the country’s southwestern coast and an offshore island. It is located about 250 miles (400 km) south of Mumbai (Bombay). One of India’s smallest states, it is bounded by the states of Maharashtra on the north and Karnataka on the east and south and by the Arabian Sea on the west. The capital is Panaji (Panjim), on the north-central coast of the mainland district. Formerly a Portuguese possession, it became a part of India in 1962 and attained statehood in 1987. Area 1,429 square miles (3,702 square km). Pop. (2011) 1,457,723.
During the 19th century, major events affecting the settlement were its temporary occupation by the British in 1809 as a result of the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon I; the governorship (1855–64) of Count de Torres Novas, who inaugurated a great number of improvements; and the military revolts of the second half of the century. The most notable of the revolts was that of September 3, 1895, which necessitated the dispatch of an expeditionary force from Portugal. The infante (Portuguese prince) Affonso Henriques, duque de Oporto, accompanied this expedition and exercised governor’s powers from March to May 1896.
