Yanam (French: Yanaon) is a town in the Indian union territory of Puducherry, located in Yanam district, which forms a 30 km enclave in the district of East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. It has a population of 32,000, most of whom speak Telugu. For 200 years it was a French colony, and, though united with India in 1954, is still sometimes known as French Yanam. It possesses a blend of French and Telugu culture prevailing in Andhra Pradesh. During French rule, the Tuesday market (mangalavaram santa) at Yanam was popular among Telugu people in the Madras Presidency who visited Yanam to buy foreign and smuggled goods during Yanam People's Festival, which is held in January. Also, after implementation of the Sarda Act in British India in 1929, Telugu people came to Yanam to conduct child marriages, which remained legal under the French administration. In 1936, Yanam's population was 5,220.Latitude: 1642' N 1646' N; Longitude: 8211' E 8219' E. The district lies in the delta of Godavari River; the town is situated where the river meets its tributary Koringa River (Coringa River), nine kilometres from the Bay of Bengal, on the Coromandel coast.Yanam's soil is alluvium consisting of sand clay and gravel. It is greyish black and clayey in composition. A few thin layers of sandy clay or sand, not exceeding 0.3-metre in thickness, are intercalated with the clay soil. The river sands on the bank of Gauthami, Godavari consist of quartz, felspar and muscovite mica. A few grains of monazite are also found in the black streaks. There are no minerals of economic value in the region.Yanam receives irrigation water via the Bank Canal, which begins at the Dowleswaram headworks (Sir Arthur Cotton's barrage on the River Godavari, downstream from Rajahmundry). The canal runs towards east to Pillanka, a village near Yanam, and is popularly known as French Channel, having been built under a 1949 agreement between the then French Government and the Government of India. It provides irrigation and drinking water to the areas west of the Coringa River. After merger, irrigation was provided to about 5.6 km of dry land on the eastern side of the Coringa River by constructing an irrigation canal, the Adivipolam Channel, from the tail end of Tallarevu South Canal and the starting point of the Neelapalli Channel on the right side. The work was undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh Public Works Department in 1964, and was completed and commissioned in June 1966. Like the French Channel, it provides irrigation and drinking water.Yanam's climate is characterised by high humidity (over 70% in the day and 60% in the evenings throughout the year), an oppressive summer season (with humidity of 68 to 80%), and plentiful rainfall. It enjoys the benefits of both the Southwest and Northeast monsoons. Average annual rainfall is 1226 mm.Temperatures in Yanam range from 27 C to 45 C in summer, and 17 C to 28 C in winter. From February, temperatures start rising rapidly until May, which is the hottest month, with the mean maximum around 37 C and mean minimum around 28 C. Humidity being high, the heat is exhausting. The maximum temperature on some days in May or early June, before the onset of the south-west monsoon, may touch 47 C. The sea breeze affords some relief in the afternoons. Similarly, pre-monsoon thunder-showers may also bring relief on some days. With the onset of the monsoon in June the temperature falls rapidly, and usually remains steady until September. In this season the mean maximum temperature is around 32 C, and night temperatures fall rapidly until December or January, when day temperatures are around 27 C, and night temperatures around 19 C. At times the minimum temperature may drop to 14 C. December and January are the coolest months.
