Panaji

Panaji (; , ; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary in the Tiswadi sub-district (taluka). With a population of 114,759 in the metropolitan area, Panaji is Goa's largest urban agglomeration, ahead of Margao and Mormugao. Panaji has terraced hills, concrete buildings with balconies and red-tiled roofs, churches, and a riverside promenade. There are avenues lined with gulmohar, acacia and other trees. The baroque Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church is located overlooking the main square known as Praça da Igreja. Panaji has been selected as one of a hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Smart Cities Mission. The city was built with stepped streets and a seven kilometre long promenade on a planned grid system after the Portuguese relocated the capital from Velha Goa in the 17th century. It was elevated from a town to a city on 22 March 1843. Etymology The city was renamed from Panjim in English to Panaji, its present official name in the 1980s. The Portuguese name is Pangim. The city is sometimes written as पणजें in (देवनागरी) कोंकणी or Ponnjé in Romi Konkani. The city had been renamed Nova Goa (Portuguese for "New Goa") when it officially replaced the city of Goa (now Old Goa) as the capital of Portuguese India, though the Viceroy had already moved there in 1759.