Goa ,.I. A Portuguese colony in India, on the TV. coast, between lat. 14° 54' and 15° 45' N., and Ion. 73° 45' and 74° 26' E., bounded N. by Sawuntwarree, E. by N. Canara, and TV. and S. by the Indian ocean; pop. about 418,000. With the exception of Damaun and Diu, it is the only Portuguese possession in India. It is well watered and fertile, producing rice, pepper, co-coanuts, betel nuts, and salt. The inhabitants, two thirds of whom are Roman Catholics, are chiefly descendants of Europeans by native women. II. Old Goa, a city of the above named colony, and formerly capital of the Portuguese possessions in India, on an island separated from the mainland by the river Mandova, 250 m. S. S. E. of Bombay; pop. about 4,000. The houses are built of stone in the European style, the streets are regular, and the public buildings far surpass everything else erected by Europeans in India, but are falling to decay, and the ruins of the ancient edifices have been used as quarries for building materials in the new town.

During the 16th century it was one of the most flourishing European settlements in the East; its walls described a circuit of 6 m., and enclosed a population of 150,-000 Christians and 50,000 Mohammedans; but the site is unhealthy, and was abandoned early in the 18th century. St. Francis Xavier was buried there, March 15, 1554; but his remains, with his magnificent tomb, covered with sculptures representing passages in his life, have been removed to the new town. Old Goa is now nearly deserted; but some pains are taken to keep the ancient churches and public buildings in repair. III. New Goa, Pan-jim, or Panganm, situated on the same island, 5 m. nearer to the sea than the old town, on a fine bay S. of a headland called Algoada point, with two lighthouses, is a fortified place, and since 1758 the Portuguese capital in the East; pop. about 24,000. It is the residence of the governor and principal Portuguese inhabitants, and the seat of an archbishop. The principal buildings are the cathedral, custom house, and the palaces of the archbishop and the governor. The trade, once the most important of any place in India, is now trifling, and is limited to the mother country and the Portuguese settlements on the coast of China and Africa. The revenue of the colony is about $600,000 annually.

Goa was taken from the Hindoos by the Mohammedan sovereign of the Deccan in 1469. In 1510 it was captured by the Portuguese, who made it the capital of their conquests in India; and it has ever since remained in their hands except during the period from 1807 to 1815, when it was held by the British. In no part of the world was the inquisition more vigorously maintained than in Goa. A mutiny of the native troops took place here in November, 1871.