Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a district of the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is composed of two separate geographical entities: Nagar Haveli, wedged between Maharashtra and Gujarat and 1 km to the northwest, the smaller enclave of Dadra, which is surrounded by Gujarat. Silvassa is the administrative headquarters of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The climate is typical of the region. Summers are hot, with the mean temperatures in May typically rising into the low 90s F (mid-30s C). Annual rainfall averages about 120 inches (3,050 mm), most of it falling between June and September.
Farming is the chief occupation and is largely practiced by the indigenous people, most of whom live in rural areas. Much cultivation is done on terraced land. Rice and ragi (also called finger millet) are the major food crops. Wheat and sugarcane are also grown. A dam and reservoir on the Daman Ganga River in neighbouring Gujarat has extended irrigation in the territory significantly. Timber production is mainly centred on the valuable native teak.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli came under the rule of Portugal in the late 18th century. The Marathas ceded Nagar Haveli to the Portuguese in 1783 as compensation for a Portuguese vessel that their navy had destroyed. Two years later Portugal acquired Dadra, which became a kind of fief. After India achieved independence in 1947, nationalists in Goa—the oldest Portuguese possession in India—sought to break away from Portugal; their first successes were the seizure of Dadra on the night of July 21, 1954, and their capture of Nagar Haveli two weeks later. A pro-Indian administration was formed in these enclaves, and on June 1, 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli requested accession to the Indian union. Although the Indian government had already acknowledged the incorporation of the two areas after their liberation from the Portuguese, their status as a single union territory was made official on Aug. 11, 1961.
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