Geographical Analysis of the Coastal Landforms of Canacona, Goa

Of the total 247 nations of the Globe, 123 nations are characterized by coastline accounting to 1.6 million kilometers. Coastal areas are highly useful to humans because they have ecological, biological, social, and economic values. Since the antiquity of man, oceans and seas have served as a linkage amid humans and lands. They have bonded us together. Economic development in the world is concentrated in the coastal regions hence most thickly populated cities are found concentrated in these areas. The coastal ecosystems are composed of diversified landforms of different dimensions and forms. India has 7516.6 km long coastline of which 130kms lies in Goa. The shoreline of Goa is characterized sandy beaches, rocky beaches, sea caves, estuaries, mangroves, bays, headlands, cliffs, hills, corals, ports, harbors and coastal islands. Of the 12 talukas of Goa, 7 talukas are gifted with coastline. Canacona taluka has the longest coastline among all the talukas. The coast of Canacona is very fragile and eco-geologically vital. The coast of Canacona is characterized by a number of coastal landforms created by both erosion and deposition. Hence, this paper make an attempt to investigate in to the coastal landscape of Canacona and identify important coastal landforms.