Goa Island
Have you ever heard about such geographical notion? No? Well, of course you would never meet such definition in any manual or reference book because simply such notion does not exist. But, however, many people often call Goa an “island” while talking about their forthcoming trip to this fantastic Indian state. In real, Goa is the smallest state of India which did not depart from the mainland yet. This small piece of heaven stretches along the western coast of the country.
But this is from the geographic standpoint. However, if you take the cultural, historical and even economical side you will see that the map of India has a special and unique Goa island. The island has its own customs and traditions, legislative system and unwritten rules of life.
During almost 450 years, until 1961, Goa was a Portuguese colony. The statute of equal state of India was given to Goa a little bit later – in 1987 after the elections were conducted. In consequence of the Portuguese presence on the Island, the Mediterranean features in the form of settlements where 40% of population are Christians were preserved.
The conquerors, perhaps, didn’t make the local citizens to adopt the “proper” Catholic religion, but the Goa people, however, were glad to catch up some of the Mediterranean traditions, such as, for example, the siesta. Today, Goa is the only Indian state where the rule of lunch period is still preserved. The lunch-time here continues for three hours: from 12:00 noon till 3:00 pm. During this period of time all shops and offices, without any exception, are closed for lunch.
By the way, Goa differs from the rest of India not only with shops. There are no malls here, although Goa welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists per year. Goa is a real island of shops, bazaars and small stores in the world of huge shopping centers.
The “Goa Island” has its own price policy regarding the gasoline. Here it is much cheaper than in the neighboring state of Maharashtra. Some Goa citizens, even being the valiant guardians of order and law, sometimes purchase the gasoline in Goa, transport it to Maharashtra and sell it there for local prices.
Only two types of industry are developing in Goa: tourism and mining. The nice miniature Indian state is a major producer and exporter of iron and manganese ore.
Besides, Goa is the only state of India that has its own unique musical form – the famous Goa trance.
But the most unique thing in Goa, without any doubt, is its amazing beaches. Goa is considered to be the best surface area in India. Moreover, many people believe that the Goa beaches are the best in the world and each year hundreds of thousands of tourists are coming here for unforgettable holidays in awesome “Goa Island”.
