Pondicherry is a union territory in the south of India. Formerly a French colony, it came under the rule of the Indian Government in 1954 and was organized as a union territory in 1963.

It consists of four small unconnected parts: Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahe on the Arabian Sea.

On January 16, 1761, the British captured Pondicherry from the French.