Salcete taluka

Salcete or Salcette (Konkani: Saxtti/Xaxtti) is a subdivision of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The River Sal and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Historically, the sixty-six settlements south of the Zuari River formed the original Salcette territory. Salcete forms a part of the bigger Konkan region that stretches along the western shoreline of peninsular India.

In erstwhile Portuguese Goa, the Salcette concelho (county) located in the Velhas Conquistas (Old Conquests) was co-terminous with the undivided Salcette territory (Mormugao and Salcete talukas). In 1917, the concelho was bifurcated into the present-day talukas of Mormugao and Salcete. The contemporary Salcete taluka has been classified as a rurban area. Margao serves as the administrative headquarters of both Salcete taluka and the South Goa district.

Etymology
"Salcete" is the modern anglicised spelling of the historical lusitanised version Salcette. This word "Salcette" has been derived from the Konkani word Saxtti; साष्टी; ( IPA: )—a corruption of the Sanskrit word "षट-षष्टि"; ṣaṭa-ṣaṣṭi ( IPA: )—meaning "sixty-six". According to the Hindu mythology of the Konkan, the original sixty-six settlements of the Salcette territory were established by sixty-six Saraswat Brahmin clans who had emigrated here from North India. In Goan Konkani, the natives are referred to as Saxtticar or Xaxtticar; साष्टीकार/षाष्टीकार; ( IPA:  or ). The Salcete Konkani dialect of southern Goa known as "Saxtti" is notably different from the "Antruzi" (Ponda) and "Bardescari" (Bardez) dialects of northern Goa.

History
King Viramarmadeva of the Kadamba dynasty issued a copper-plate inscription in 1049 CE concerning a grant of a piece of land called Tudukapura in Kudtarika agrahara of Chhat sathi desha. This inscription suggests that Chhat sathi refers to modern Salcete, known as "Sāṣṭī" in the local language.

Historical Salcette
The original sixty-six settlements of Salcette are as follows:

Contemporary Salcete
Salcete taluka comprises nine comunidades: Benaulim, Betalbatim, Colva, Curtorim, Loutolim, Margao, Nuvem, Raia, and Verna.

The sub-district consists of two cities, eleven towns, and thirty-five villages as per the 2011 Census of India.

Demographics
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, Salcete had a population of 294,464 with sex ratio of 1025 females to 1000 males. Salcete Taluka has an average literacy rate of 89.34%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 92.63% and female literacy is 86.15%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 1.17% and 11.06% of the population respectively. 72.15% of the population lives in urban areas.

Religion
Christianity is followed by the majority of population of Salcete Taluka, and forms over 75% of the population in rural areas. Hindus form a significant minority. At the time of the 2011 Census of India 53.57% of the population of the Taluka followed Christianity, 34.61% Hinduism, 11.38% Islam and 0.19% of the population followed other religions or did not state religion.

Languages
Konkani and Hindi are among the most spoken languages in Salcete Taluka.

At the time of 2011 Census of India, 71.73% of the population of Salcete Taluka spoke Konkani, 10.52% Hindi, 4.65% Marathi, 3.82% Kannada and 3.20% Urdu as their first language.