Coastal Plains And Islands Life

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

This small union territory, with its capital at Silvassa, is located between the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. It was liberated from the Portuguese in 1954. Farming is the chief occupation. Important crops grown here are ragi, rice and pulses.

Goa

Goa, India’s smallest state, has its capital in Panaji. It was declared a state in 1987 and is renowned for tourism and agriculture. forests are very popular among tourists from within and out of the country, which have become still more charming due to its culture. The chief crops grown here are rice, pulses, ragi, groundnut, maize and millets. The cash crops of mango, banana, arecnut, cashewnut, coconut and sugarcane are also grown. It is also a hub of small scale industries such as bakeries, printing presses, saw mills, packaged food industries, carbon paper industries, automobile parts industries and polythene industries. People in Goa speak Konkani, Marathi and Portuguese. The most celebrated festival is Christmas. Music and dance are popular among the people.

       Sea beach in Goa

Kerala

Located on the Malabar coast, Kerala has plains and the Nilgiri hills. The sea has formed many lagoons or backwaters, which are used for transportation and fishing. On the occasion of Onam, boatraces are held here. Farming and tourism are main occupations. The important crops grown here include coconut, tea, coffee, rice, cardamom, rubber etc. Coconut is an important part of food as well as occupation. Coir industry is based on coconut as the raw material. Kerala is visited by a large number of people for naturopathy. Men in Kerala wear lungi-shirt and women wear saree. People speak Malayalam, English and other South Indian languages. Rice is their staple diet. The classical dance form, Kathakali, is popular here. Thiruvananthapuram is the capital of this state. Calicut and Kochi are major seaports and Alwaye, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Trichur are important industrial centres. Know It! Kerala has the highest rate of literacy in india.

     Kerala backwaters