Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. It is located on the west coast of India, in the region known as the Konkan, and is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the east and south. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's west coast. Panaji is the state's capital, and Vasco-da-Gama (Vasco) its largest town. Portuguese merchants first landed in Goa in the 16th century but soon after colonised it. The Portuguese colony existed for about 450 years, until it was annexed as part of India in 1961.

Internationally renowned for its beaches, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists each year. Besides beaches, Goa is also known for its world heritage architecture including the Bom Jesus Basilica. Goa also has rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, which are classified as a biodiversity hotspot.

Government and politics
Panaji (also known by its anglicised name – Panjim) is the administrative capital of Goa lying on the left bank of the Mandovi near Panaji. Goa's legislative capital is Porvorim – the seat of the Goa assembly, which lies across the Mandovi River. The state's judicial capital, however, is Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay, and not within the state's borders), as the state comes under the Bombay High Court. A bench of the High Court is present in Panaji. Goa contributes two seats to the Lok Sabha and one to the Rajya Sabha, India's bicameral parliament.

Goa has a unicameral legislature consisting of a forty member Legislative Assembly, headed by a Chief Minister who wields the executive power. The ruling government consists of the party or coalition garnering the most seats in the state elections and enjoying the support of a simple majority of the House. The governor is appointed by the President of India. The governor's role is largely ceremonial, but plays a crucial role when it comes to deciding who should form the next government or in suspending the legislature as has happened in the recent past. After having stable governance for nearly thirty years upto 1990, Goa is now notorious for its political instability having seen fourteen governments in the span of the fifteen years between 1990 and 2005. In March 2005 the assembly was dissolved by the governor and President's Rule was declared, which suspended the legislature. A recent by-election in June 2005 saw the Congress coming back to power after winning three of the five seats that went to polls. The Congress party and the BJP are the two largest parties in the state. Other parties include the United Goans Democratic Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is the oldest in the state, though in recent times it has lost out much of its traditional electorate.

Unlike other states which follows the British Indian model of civil laws framed for individual religions, the Portuguese Uniform Civil Code, based on the Napoleonic Codes, has been retained by the Goa government.

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