Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry is a Union Territory of India. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or districts, and named for the largest, Pondicherry.In September 2006, the territory changed its official name from Pondicherry to the vernacular original, Puducherry, which means "New village" in the Tamil language. The territory is called in Tamil,, or "Pondichéry" in French. It is also known as The French Riviera of the East (La Côte d'Azur de l'Est).


Economy
Macro-economic trend
This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Puducherry at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year Gross State Domestic Product
1980 1,840
1985 3,420
1990 6,030
1995 13,200
2000 37,810

Divisions
Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé on the Arabian Sea. Puducherry and Karaikal are by far the larger ones, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu. Yanam and Mahé are enclaves of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively.