Daman is a city and the administrative capital of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n territory of

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by th ...

. It is a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

situated in the Daman district of the union territory. The

Daman Ganga River The Daman Ganga, also called the Dawan River, is a river in western India. The river's headwaters are on the western slope of the Western Ghats range, and it flows west into the Arabian Sea. The river flows through Maharashtra and Gujarat states, ...

divides Daman into: Nani-Daman (Little Daman) and Moti-Daman (Big Daman). Despite its name, Nani-Daman is the larger of the two parts, while the old city is mainly in Moti-Daman. This holds most of the important entities, like the major hospitals, supermarkets, and major residential areas.

Vapi Vapi (IAST: vāpī, ), is a city and Municipal Corporation in Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is near the banks of the Daman Ganga River, around 28 km south of the district headquarters in the city of Valsad, and it is ...

, Gujarat, is the nearest city to Daman.

Etymology

The name "Daman" comes from the Daman Ganga River, while Diu is from the Sanskrit word dvipa, meaning “island.” From Mauryan times (4th–2nd century BCE), both were subject to various local and regional powers ruling in western India. In the 13th century Daman formed part of the Ramnagar state, which then became a tributary of the Gujarat sultans. Similarly, numerous dynasties in Kathiawar (Saurashtra) ruled Diu until it fell to the sultan of Gujarat in the early 15th century.

History

The Portuguese Captain-Major

Diogo de Melo Diogo de Melo was the 9th Captain-major of Portuguese Ceylon Portuguese Ceylon (; ; ) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658. Portuguese presence in the is ...

arrived at the Daman shore by chance in 1523 while sailing towards

Ormuz The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz or Hormuz; ; ) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in the 11th century initially as a dependency of ...

. He was caught in a violent storm and had his boat blown towards the coast of Daman. Shortly after, it was acquired as a

Portuguese colony The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

for over 400 years. A larger fort was built in Moti Daman in the 16th century to guard against the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

, who ruled the area until the Portuguese arrived. It stands today, most of it preserved in its original form. Today the majority of the municipal government offices are inside the fort. Daman was incorporated into the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

December 1961 The following events occurred in December 1961: December 1, 1961 (Friday) *The U.S. Department of Defense began the distribution of a unique black and yellow sign to mark each fallout shelter to be occupied in the event of a nuclear attack ...

after nearly 400 years of Portuguese colonial rule which had largely led to exploitation of the area and native population. After refusal to vacate the occupied territory of mainland India, the Portuguese surrendered before the Indian Army, while some of its Army personnel deserted their posts and escaped to Karachi, Pakistan. The battle left four Indians dead and 14 wounded; Portuguese casualties were 10 dead and two wounded.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census city of Daman had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 44,282, whereas Daman District had 191,173 inhabitants. This gives the district a ranking of 592nd in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The city has a population density of and the district . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 69.256%. Daman has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 533

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

for every 1,000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 88.06%.

Climate

Daman has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw'') with two distinct seasons: a long, sunny dry season from October to May and a hot, very humid, and extremely wet

monsoon season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

from June to September. Almost no rain falls during the dry season. With milder mornings and lower humidity especially up to the middle of March, this is by far the most comfortable time of the year. The monsoon season, though relatively short, is extremely wet. Along with the very high humidity and heavy rain every afternoon, travel is difficult and uncomfortable.

Places of interest

* Fort São Jerónimo (St. Jerome Fort or Nani Daman Fort) * Fort of Daman (Moti Daman Fort) * Church of Bom Jesus *Jain Temple: This 18th-century Jain temple is in the northern region of Nani Daman Fort and is dedicated to Mahavira Swami. It is built with white marble. The walls have glass covers with 18th-century murals that represent the life of Mahavira Swami. *Jampore Beach *Devka Beach *Daman Freedom Memorial Daman NaniDaman Fort Entrance.JPG, Nani Daman Fort Entrance Jain Temple, Daman (2012).jpg, Jain Temple, Daman Harbour View from Moti Daman Fort.jpg, Harbour View from Moti Daman Fort Jampore Beach Daman India 2.jpg, Jampore Beach in Daman Daman 01012012 217.JPG, Jampore Beach in Daman Sunset at Devka beach, daman.jpg, Sunset at Devka beach, Damao Church in Nani Daman Fort.jpg, Church in Nani Daman Fort Church of Bom Jesus in Daman.jpg, Church of Bom Jesus, Daman Daman Freedom Memorial.JPG, Daman Freedom Memorial Daman2.jpg, alt=Moti Daman Fort, The Fort of Moti Daman

Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...

Air Station, Daman is the premier air station of the Coast Guard with all the airfield facilities, air traffic control and other allied air traffic services. It is equipped with state-of-the-art airport surveillance radar (ASR), precision approach path indicator (PAPI), Doppler very high frequency omnidirectional radio range (DVOR) – distance measuring equipment (DME) and nondirectional beacon (NDB), as navigational aids. This air station provides ATC and parking facilities to defence as well as civil aircraft.

Schools and colleges

*Coast Guard Public School, Nani Daman *Swami Vivekanand English & Hindi Medium School, Dalwada, Daman *Institute of Our Lady of Fatima, Convent, Moti Daman * Podar Jumbo Kids, Daman (preschool) *Sunrise Champs school, Mashal Chowk, Nani Daman *Vaidik Dental college campus, Salwaar, Nani Daman *Shrinathji School, Varkund, Nani Daman *Divya Jyoti English High & Higher Secondary School, Dabhel, Daman *Divya Jyoti Hindi Medium School, Dabhel, Daman *MGM High School, Nani-Daman (Sarvajanik High School) *Government Higher Secondary School, Nani Daman *Government Higher Secondary School, Moti Daman *Government Polytechnic Daman *Shree Machchi Mahajan English Medium School, Nani Daman *Stella Maris English Medium High School, Daman *AIM English School, Moti Daman *Government College, Nani Daman *Government Primary School, Devka Mangelwad, Nani Daman *Holy Trinity English medium high school, Dunetha, Daman * Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Daman

References

External links

Official WebsiteDaman Tourism Website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Daman district, India Indian union territory capitals