# Yanam (యానాం)
**Yanam** (యానాం; French: Yanaon) is one of the four regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry, India, a 30 square kilometer enclave on the east coast of the peninsula, surrounded on all sides by the East Godavari district of [Andhra Pradesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/andhra-pradesh).[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) It lies at 16°42′ northern latitude and 82°11′ eastern longitude, on the spot where the River Coringa (Atreya) branches off from the Gautami Godavari into two parts, and it is about 870 km from Puducherry, the territory's capital.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status | One of four regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry, an enclave within East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) |
| Area and population | 30.0 sq km; 31,362 residents at the 2001 census; 55,626 in the government's current "At a Glance" figures[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) |
| Distance from capital | 870 km per the district website; 840 km per the 2011 Census handbook; 824 km by road per press reporting[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) • [2](https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/980/download/36788/DH_2011_3401_PART_A_DCHB_YANAM.pdf) • [3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/tamil-nadu/2016/Apr/09/away-from-the-power-centre-enclaves-in-the-union-territory-cry-for-attention-922107.html) |
| French period | Occupied by France in 1723, third in antiquity among the five French settlements; under French rule for more than two centuries[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) |
| Transfer to India | De facto transfer on 1 November 1954 under the agreement signed on 21 October 1954[5](https://py.gov.in/government) |
| Literacy | 79.47% (Census 2011, persons aged 7 and above); male 82.75%, female 76.35%[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) |
| Local government | Yanam town and its villages are treated as a single municipality with 14 wards; the region is headed by a Regional Administrator[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) • [2](https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/980/download/36788/DH_2011_3401_PART_A_DCHB_YANAM.pdf) |
## Geography
Yanam sits on the left bank of the eastern branch of the Godavari, bounded on the east and south by the Gautami Godavari, which discharges into the [Bay of Bengal](https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-bengal) after flowing roughly 14 km east from Yanam.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) The Coringa river divides the town into two parts, and the district history page places the river's meeting with the sea about 9 miles south of the town.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) The town stands at the apex of the Godavari delta: an environmental assessment for the adjoining coast describes the delta as beginning at Yanam and ending at Antarvedi in [East Godavari district](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-godavari-district).[6](https://environmentclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/Online/EDS/0_0_04_Jun_2020_1421501271ADSResponse.pdf)
The region covers 30 sq km and consists of Yanam town plus villages administered as one municipality.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) The district's own pages differ on the count: the About page lists six villages, while the history page names eight villages under municipal jurisdiction, Kanakalapeta, Jambavanpeta, Agraharam, Mettakur, Kursampeta, Farampeta, Darialtippa, and Guerempeta.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) • [4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) A French-language survey likewise lists eight villages in the Yanam jurisdiction.[7](https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/EtatsNsouverains/inde-pondicherry.htm) [Irrigation](https://www.edgepedia.org/irrigation) water comes from Andhra Pradesh through an old canal called the "French Kalva"; the soil is described as fertile for cultivation but irrigation facilities as scanty, with paddy the main crop alongside pulses, chillies, and groundnuts.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/)
## French history
The French Compagnie des Indes established a trading post at Yanam in 1723, making it the third oldest of the five French settlements in India, after Chandernagor (1673) and [Pondicherry](https://www.edgepedia.org/pondicherry) (1674) and before Mahe (1725) and Karaikal (1739).[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) The post was vacated after four years because commercial operations did not produce the desired results, and it was seized again in 1731, during the time of Dupleix, when a parwana from Haji Hassan Khan authorized the French representative Fouquet, then chief of the Company at [Machilipatnam](https://www.edgepedia.org/machilipatnam), to set up a loge at Yanam.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) A fuller re-establishment followed in 1742.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/)
In 1750 Musafar Jung, the [Nizam of Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/nizam-of-hyderabad), confirmed French sovereignty over the territory, and the place was formally ceded two years later.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) Like the other settlements, Yanam fell three times into British hands; after the [Napoleonic Wars](https://www.edgepedia.org/napoleonic-wars) it was returned to the French early in 1817, along with the factory at Machilipatnam.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) Under the French it acquired commercial weight during the occupation of the Northern Circars: it was a center for the manufacture of salt, which formed the major part of the salt the French imported into Bengal, and an important center of cotton goods that supplied a large part of the return cargo of French ships visiting India.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/) A 1767 memoir quoted on the district history page states that the settlement's best fine cloth ("guiness") came from Yanam, and that commerce worth more than a million livres a year was possible there under favorable circumstances.[4](https://yanam.gov.in/history/)
## Transfer to India and administration
Yanam remained French until 1954. The merger of Puducherry with the Indian Union took effect on 1 November 1954 under the agreement signed between the Governments of India and France on 21 October 1954; the Treaty of Cession of 1956 later ceded the establishments of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam in full sovereignty, with the assurance that the special administrative status in force before 1 November 1954 would be kept.[5](https://py.gov.in/government) • [8](https://ceopuducherry.py.gov.in/admin/electionresultreport/202403110849461074861517.pdf) The Union Territory of Puducherry was created by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1962, which specified the four former French establishments in the Constitution as a Union Territory.[5](https://py.gov.in/government) • [14](https://www.legislative.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/07/8280fa9ccf56f067efd5cc9491297db8.pdf)
For administration, Yanam forms part of Puducherry District together with the Puducherry and Mahe regions, while it is treated as a separate district for census purposes because of its distance from the headquarters.[2](https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/980/download/36788/DH_2011_3401_PART_A_DCHB_YANAM.pdf) A Regional Administrator, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, is the administrative head of the region and head of office for all government offices in Yanam, most of which function in a single premises, the Mini Civil Station.[2](https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/980/download/36788/DH_2011_3401_PART_A_DCHB_YANAM.pdf) • [9](https://www.py.gov.in/rural-development)
## Population and connections
The 2001 census recorded 31,362 people in the region; the government's current "At a Glance" figures and the 2016-17 plan document give a population of 55,626.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/) • [10](https://pandr.py.gov.in/sites/default/files/introduction-2016-17.pdf) Literacy at the 2011 census was 79.47% among persons aged seven and above, with 39,274 literate people, 19,919 males and 19,355 females; India has not conducted a census since 2011.[1](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/)
The nearest rail head is Kakinada, about an hour's drive away, and the nearest airport is [Visakhapatnam](https://www.edgepedia.org/visakhapatnam), roughly 200 km from Yanam, about four hours by road.[11](https://ceopuducherry.py.gov.in/general_information.php) • [12](https://py.gov.in/about-puducherry)
## Distance and neglect
Yanam's situation illustrates the practical consequences of Puducherry's scattered geography. The Union Territory consists of four non-contiguous former French enclaves in three states, and the outlying regions have repeatedly raised complaints of neglect by an administration seated hundreds of kilometers away.[3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/tamil-nadu/2016/Apr/09/away-from-the-power-centre-enclaves-in-the-union-territory-cry-for-attention-922107.html) Press reporting in 2016 described Yanam, once home to a number of industries, as suffering from workers' protests, including the closure of Regency Ceramics, value-added tax issues, and the absence of special investment incentives, with industrial houses shifting to states offering better terms.[3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/tamil-nadu/2016/Apr/09/away-from-the-power-centre-enclaves-in-the-union-territory-cry-for-attention-922107.html) Current spending continues to target the enclave's infrastructure: the Chief Minister's 2025-26 address proposed a 6 MLD sewage treatment plant at Mettakuru in Yanam and allocated ₹100 million (₹10 crore) to rehabilitate a heritage structure while maintaining its heritage character.[13](https://py.gov.in/sites/default/files/cm-speech-2025-26-english.pdf)
## References
1. [About Yanam, Government of Puducherry](https://yanam.gov.in/about-district/)
2. [District Census Handbook 2011, District Yanam, Part A: Administrative Setup, Census of India](https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/980/download/36788/DH_2011_3401_PART_A_DCHB_YANAM.pdf)
3. [Away From the Power Centre, Enclaves in the Union Territory Cry for Attention, The New Indian Express (9 April 2016)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/tamil-nadu/2016/Apr/09/away-from-the-power-centre-enclaves-in-the-union-territory-cry-for-attention-922107.html)
4. [History, Yanam, Government of Puducherry](https://yanam.gov.in/history/)
5. [Government, Official Website of Government of Puducherry](https://py.gov.in/government)
6. [Geography and Geomorphology, environmental clearance document, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change](https://environmentclearance.nic.in/writereaddata/Online/EDS/0_0_04_Jun_2020_1421501271ADSResponse.pdf)
7. [Inde: Pondichéry (Poudouchéry), Université Laval](https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/EtatsNsouverains/inde-pondicherry.htm)
8. [Election Result Report, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Puducherry](https://ceopuducherry.py.gov.in/admin/electionresultreport/202403110849461074861517.pdf)
9. [Rural Development, Official Website of Government of Puducherry](https://www.py.gov.in/rural-development)
10. [Introduction 2016-17, Draft Annual Plan, Government of Puducherry Planning and Research Department](https://pandr.py.gov.in/sites/default/files/introduction-2016-17.pdf)
11. [General Information, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Puducherry](https://ceopuducherry.py.gov.in/general_information.php)
12. [About Puducherry, Official Website of Government of Puducherry](https://py.gov.in/about-puducherry)
13. [Chief Minister's Speech 2025-26, Government of Puducherry](https://py.gov.in/sites/default/files/cm-speech-2025-26-english.pdf)
14. [legislative.gov.in](https://www.legislative.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/07/8280fa9ccf56f067efd5cc9491297db8.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Settlements and neighborhoods › Cities and towns › Cities, towns, and villages of South and Southeast Asia › Cities of southern India*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license