South Goa district
South Goa district is one of two districts that comprises the state of Goa, India, within the region known as the Konkan. It is bounded by North Goa district to the north, the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. History. The Portuguese established a colony in Goa in 1510 and expanded the colony to its present boundaries during the 17th and 18th centuries. Goa was annexed by India on 19 December 1961. Goa and two other former Portuguese enclaves became the union territory of  Goa, Daman and Diu, and Goa was organised into a single district in 1965. On 30 May 1987 Goa attained statehood (while Daman and Diu became a separate union territory), and Goa was reorganised into two districts, North Goa and South Goa. Administration. Ruchika Katyal, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, is the collector and district magistrate of South Goa. There are deputy collectors and "mamlatdars" for each sub Division / taluka. The headquarters of the district is Margao. There are 205 revenue villages in South Goa District under 7 Tehsils (sub districts) headed each by the Mamladar. Divisions. Margao  is the administrative headquarters of the district. The 'Matanhy Saldanha Administrative Complex', the collectorate building, named after former minister and social activist Mr Mathany Saldanha, is located on the outskirts of the city, adjoining the intercity bus stand. The district is divided into five subdivisions—Ponda, Mormugao‑Vasco, Margao, Quepem, and Dharbandora; and seven "talukas"—Ponda, Mormugao, Salcete (Margao), Quepem, and Canacona (Chaudi), Sanguem, and Dharbandora. Ponda taluka was shifted from North Goa district to South Goa district in January 2015. Transport. Frequent buses are available between Margao and North Goa. Demographics. According to the 2011 census South Goa has a population  of 6,40,537 which is roughly equal to the nation of Montenegro or the US state of Vermont. This gives it a ranking of 515th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 8.63%. South Goa has a sex ratio of 980 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 85.53%. Language. Konkani is the first language of a majority of the people living in South Goa district. Portuguese is also spoken and understood by a small number of people. At the time  of the 2011 Census of India, 66.44% of the population in the district spoke Konkani, 12.38% Hindi, 6.45% Marathi, 5.98% Kannada, 3.39% Urdu, 1.00% Malayalam, 0.86% Telugu, 0.55% Bengali, 0.49% Tamil, 0.49% Gujarati, 0.44% Odia and 0.42% English as their first language. Religion. Hinduism (53%) is followed by the majority of population of South Goa. Christians (36%) form significant minority. Education. There are many educational institutions in South Goa. The prominent colleges include: