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Puducherry, India

Puducherry
புதுச்சேரி
Union territory of India
Official logo of Puducherry
Seal of Puducherry
Location of Puducherry (marked in red) in India
Location of Puducherry (marked in red) in India
Coordinates: 11°54′40″N 79°48′45″E / 11.911082°N 79.812533°E / 11.911082; 79.812533Coordinates: 11°54′40″N 79°48′45″E / 11.911082°N 79.812533°E / 11.911082; 79.812533
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
State symbols of Puducherry
Song Invocation to Goddess Tamil (written by Bharathidasan)
Animal Squirrel
Bird Koel
Flower Cannonball tree's flower
Tree Bael fruit tree

Puducherry (/pᵿdᵿˈɛri/; literally New Town in Tamil), formerly known as Pondicherry (/pɒndˈɛri/), 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.


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