Puducherry புதுச்சேரி |
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Union territory of India | ||
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Location of Puducherry (marked in red) in India |
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Coordinates: 11°54′40″N 79°48′45″E / 11.911082°N 79.812533°ECoordinates: 11°54′40″N 79°48′45″E / 11.911082°N 79.812533°E | ||
Country | India | |
French India colony of the French colonial empire | 1673 | |
de facto transfer to India | 1 November 1954 | |
de jure transfer to India | 16 August 1962 | |
Capital and Largest city | Pondicherry | |
Districts | 4 | |
Government | ||
• Lieutenant Governor | Kiran Bedi | |
• Chief Minister | V. Narayanasamy (INC) | |
• Chief Secretary (India) | Manoj Parida IAS | |
• Director General of Police | Sunil Kumar Gautam IPS | |
• Legislature | Unicameral (33seats) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 496 km2 (192 sq mi) | |
Area rank | 33rd | |
Population (2011) | ||
• Total | 1,244,464 | |
• Rank | 29th | |
• Density | 2,500/km2 (6,500/sq mi) | |
Demonym(s) | Puducherrian | |
Languages | ||
• Official | Tamil and English | |
• Additional official | Malayalam (in Mahé), Telugu (in Yanam) | |
• Other | French | |
Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) | |
ISO 3166 code | IN-PY | |
Vehicle registration | PY-01,PY-02,PY-03,PY-04,PY-05,PY-05V | |
^* 30 elected, 3 nominated |
Song | Invocation to Goddess Tamil (written by Bharathidasan) |
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Animal | Squirrel |
Bird | Koel |
Flower | Cannonball tree's flower |
Tree | Bael fruit tree |
Puducherry (/pᵿdᵿˈtʃɛri/; literally New Town in Tamil), formerly known as Pondicherry (/pɒndᵻˈtʃɛri/), is a union territory of India. It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Pondichéry (Pondicherry; now Puducherry), Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanaon (Yanam). It is named after the largest district, Puducherry. Historically known as Pondicherry (Pāṇṭiccēri), the territory changed its official name to Puducherry (Putuccēri) on 20 September 2006.
Puducherry lies in the southern part of the Indian Peninsula. The areas of Puducherry district and Karaikal district are bound by the state of Tamil Nadu, while Yanam district and Mahé district are enclosed by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Puducherry is the 29th most populous and the third most densely populated state/union territory in India. It has a GDP of ₹0.21 lakh crore (US$3.2 billion) and ranks 27th in India.