Goa Travel Guide

Location Of Goa

Map of Goa Map of Goa

   Goa lies on India's west coast at 15.49 ° latitute and 73.8 ° longitude. Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population. It offically became India's 25th state on 30th May 1987.
   Earlier Goa was a Portuguese colony for about 450 years. It became part of India after Indian army action on 19th December 1961. Goa is bounded on the east and south by Karnataka, on the north by Maharastra. The Arabian Sea forms its western border.
   Alongside is a Map showing the major towns of Goa as well as the main beaches. The approximate location of Calangute is indicated by an yellow dot. The main towns of Goa are Panjim, Goa's capital , Margao, Mapusa, Vasco and Ponda.    
   The altitude varies from sea level to 1,022 mts. Goa has a long coastline of more than 100 kms.
   Goa has a high literacy rate of about 85%.

Languages Spoken In Goa

   The official language of Goa and the mother tongue of the natives of Goa is Konkani. English is also a widely spoken language. Besides these two languages Marathi is also widely spoken , it being the medium of instruction at schools for a large section of the population since the Portuguese era.The local newspapers are published in English and Marathi.
   Portuguese, formerly the language of Goa's elite is also spoken by a section of the people. Other languages spoken in Goa include Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and several other Indian languages whose usage has increased due to influx of migrants from other parts of the country.
  

Climate of Goa and Temperature Range

   The seasons in Goa are the cold season from November to Mid March, which is also the main part of the tourist season. The temperatures vary from 20 °C to about 27°C in most parts of Coastal Goa. Further inland, due to increase in altitude as well as increase in distance from the coast the nights are a few degrees cooler. The Monsoon season from June to September in which Goa receives very heavy rainfall ranging from about 300 Cms in the coastal areas to upto 450 Cms in the areas close to the western Ghats.
October is very hot and humid and also has some amount of rain during the retreat of the moonsoon. The temperatures and the humidity start rising from end of March and by middle of May it is very hot and humid.The highest recorded temperature in Goa is 39.8 °C whereas the lowest is 14.1 °C.   

Media in Goa

   With the freeing up of the broadcasting sector Goa has got 3 private FM radio stations broadcasting 24 hours a day. They include Radio Indigo which broadcasts in English only at 91.9 MHz. Other operators include Big FM at 92.7 MHz and Radio Mirchi at 98.3 MHz.
  The goverment owned All India radio broadcasts in AM Band as well as FM the primary channel at 1287 kHz and the Vividh Bharati channel at 1539 kHz. The FM channel branded as Rainbow FM broadcasts at 105.4 MHz and caters to all tastes.
   The local English daily newspapers include The Navhind Times, Herald, Goa's oldest Newspaper , The Times Of India's Goa Edition as well as Gomantak Times. Besides these several local Marathi dailies are also published from Goa.

Pepper Creeper  Pepper Creeper from a plantation in Goa

Flora and Fauna

   The total tree cover in Goa stands at about 55%. These include coconut, Mango and cashew Plantations. Coconut trees are present in almost all areas of Goa barring the hilly areas where the cashew plantations are widespread. Fruits include jackfruits, mangos, pineapples and blackberries locally called as kantas. Spices such as pepper is also grown in certain areas.

Beaches of Goa

   Goa is endowded with some of most beautiful beaches of the world. Hundreds of beaches big and small dot the Goan coastline. Full details are given in Beaches of Goa.

Churches and Temples of Goa

   There are lots of ancient Churches in Goa that have an architectural style similar to the Renaissance period in Europe. So much so that there is a saying in Portuguese which when translated roughly means "If one has seen Goa, he does not have to see Lisbon".
    Goa also has several old temples which display a unique mix of east and west in their architecture. The architectural style is unique and not found elsewhere in India. Details are given in Temples of Goa.

Tourism in Goa

   Goa is the most popular tourist destination in India and among the most popular in the world.
  According to a Government report, in the year 2006 the number of domestic tourists were 2.2 Million whereas the number of foreign tourists were 3,80,000 thousand. The report also notes that the the maximum tourist traffic occurs at the beaches of North Goa in Bardez taluka.

Indo-Portuguese style Heritage Mansions

  In many parts of Goa, mansions as well as buildings constructed in the Indo-Portuguese style architecture still stand. Fontainhas in Panjim, has now been declared a cultural quarter and is now used as a living museum to showcase the life, architecture and culture of Goa.

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