Daman, India


Daman is the capital city of the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is a municipal council situated in Daman district of the union territory.
Daman is divided by the Daman Ganga River into two parts — Nani-daman and Moti-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, Gujarat is the nearest city to Daman.

History

The Portuguese Diogo de Melo arrived at the spot by chance in 1523, when heading towards Ormuz. He was caught in a violent storm and had his boat blown towards the coast of Daman. Soon after, it was settled as a Portuguese colony which lasted for over 400 years. A larger fort was built in Moti Daman in the 16th century to guard against the Mughals 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 in December 1961 after a battle between the Portuguese and the Indians. The battle left four Indians dead and 14 wounded; Portuguese casualties were 10 dead and two wounded.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Daman District, India has a population of 191,173. This gives it a ranking of 592nd in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 69.256%. Daman has a sex ratio of 533 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 88.06%.

Climate

Daman has a tropical savanna climate with two distinct seasons: a long sunny dry season from October to May and a hot, very humid and extremely wet monsoon season 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.

Tourism

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, precision approach path indicator, Doppler very high frequency omnidirectional radio range – distance measuring equipment and nondirectional beacon, as navigational aids. This air station provides ATC and parking facilities to defence as well as civil aircraft.

Schools and colleges