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 bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea in the west. It is India's smallest state by area and fourth-smallest by population. Panaji is the state's capital, while Vasco da Gama is its largest city. Goa's official language, which is spoken by a majority of its inhabitants, is Konkani.The Portuguese, who first voyaged to the subcontinent in the early 16th century as merchants, conquered it soon thereafter, whereupon Goa became an overseas territory of the Portuguese Empire, part of what was then known as Portuguese India, and remained as such for about 456 years until it was annexed by India in 1961. The historic city of Margão or Madgaon in Goa still exhibits the cultural influence of the colonisation.Goa is the most developed small state and has the 2nd highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole. The Eleventh Finance Commission of India named Goa the best-placed state because of its infrastructure, and India's National Commission on Population rated it as having the best quality of life in India (based on the commission's 12 Indicators). It is the second-highest ranking among Indian states in the human development index.
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