Puducherry
Puducherry
Puducherry (/pʊdʊˈtʃɛri/, literally New Town in Tamil), formerly known as Pondicherry (/pɒndɪˈtʃɛri/; French: Pondichéry), is a union territory of India. It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Pondichéry (Pondicherry; now Puducherry), Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanam (Yanam). It is named after the largest district, Puducherry. Historically known as Pondicherry (Pāṇṭiccēri), the territory changed its official name to Puducherry (Putuccēri) on 20 September 2006.Puducherry lies in the southern part of the Indian Peninsula. The areas of Puducherry district and Karaikal district are bound by the state of Tamil Nadu, while Yanam district and Mahé district are enclosed by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Puducherry is the 29th most populous and the third most densely populated of the states and union territories of India. It has a gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.21 lakh crore (US$2.9 billion) and ranks 27th in India.