Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of

Dadra and Nagar Haveli Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a district of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is composed of two separate geographical entities: Nagar Haveli, wedged in between Maharashtra and Gujarat states to ...

and

Daman and Diu Daman and Diu (; ) was a former union territory in northwestern India. With an area of , it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts, Damaon and Dio island, geographically sep ...

. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in July 2019; the necessary legislation was passed in the Parliament of India in December 2019 and came into effect on 26 January 2020. The territory is made up of four separate geographical entities:

Dadra Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. Dadra tala This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...

Nagar Haveli Nagar Haveli is one of the two talukas of Dadra and Nagar Haveli District, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, India. It is surrounded by the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Silvassa, the administrative headquarters of Dadra ...

, Daman, and the island of Diu. All four areas were part of

Portuguese Goa and Damaon The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

with the former joint capital in

Panjim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

, they came under Indian rule in the mid-20th century after the

Annexation of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed ', the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. In Indi ...

. These were jointly administered as

Goa, Daman and Diu Goa, Daman and Diu (, ) was a union territory of the Republic of India established in 1961 following the annexation of Portuguese India, with Maj Gen K P Candeth as its first Military Governor. The Goa portion of the territory was granted ful ...

until 1987, when

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

was granted statehood after the

Konkani language agitation The Konkani language agitations were a series of protests and demonstrations in India, concerning the uncertain future and the Languages with official status in India, official status of the Konkani language. They were held by Goans in the then ...

. The current capital is Damaon and

Silvassa Silvassa (Indo-Portuguese; ''Vila de Paço d'Arcos'') is a city and municipality in western India, and the headquarters of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district. It was a part of the former Portuguese Goa and Damaon, and is today the largest city ...

is the largest city.

History

were Portuguese colonies from the 1520s until

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by India on 19 December 1961.

were

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

by the Indian Army on 11 August 1961. Portugal officially recognised Indian sovereignty over the areas in 1974 following the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

. Daman and Diu were administered as part of the union territory of

between 1962 and 1987, becoming a separate union territory when

was granted statehood. In July 2019, the Government of India proposed merging the two territories into a single union territory in order to reduce duplication of services and reduce the cost of administration. Legislation to this effect, the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union territories) Bill, 2019, was tabled in the Parliament of India on 26 November 2019 and assented to by the President of India on 9 December 2019. The two union territories had previously shared a common administrator and government officials. The town of Daman was chosen to be the capital of the new combined union territory. The appointed day for the act to come into effect was notified as 26 January 2020 by the Government of India.

Geography

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is composed of four distinct areas located in

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union te ...

is a small enclave within the state of Gujarat.

is a C shaped enclave located between the states of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

which contains a counter enclave of Gujarat around the village of

Maghval Maghval, also known as Megwal and Meghwad, is a village in the Kaparada taluka of Valsad district in Gujarat State, India. It is a small enclave belonging to Gujarat, but located within Nagar Haveli, just south of Silvassa in the Indian union t ...

. Daman is an enclave on the coast of Gujarat and Diu is an island off the coast of Gujarat.

Administration

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is administered as a union territory of India by virtue of Article 240 (2) of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

. The

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

appoints an administrator to administer the territory on behalf of the central Government of India. The central government may appoint advisers to assist the administrator with his duties.

Districts

The union territory is made up of three districts:

Law enforcement and justice

Law enforcement within the territory is the responsibility of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Police. The territory falls under the jurisdiction of the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...

In the Parliament of India

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu sends two members (MPs) to the lower house of the

Indian parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

. The territory is divided into the constituencies of

and

Demographics

Religion

References

External links

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu AdministrationDadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Tourism
{{Authority control Union territories of India Former colonies in Asia Former Portuguese colonies Former countries in South Asia States and union territories of India States and territories established in 2020 2020 establishments in India India–Portugal relations Enclaves and exclaves