Salcete (
Sāṣţī) is a
taluka (a unit of administration) of
South Goa District in the
Indian state of
Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is
Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called
Sashti (साष्टी), which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However,
Sashti also included the now separate taluka of
Mormugao. There are six
comunidades in Salcete namely—
Raia, Margao,
Loutolim,
Curtorim,
Verna, Colva, Betalbatim, Nuvem, and
Benaulim. Salcete is bounded by
Mormugao taluk to the northwest,
Ponda taluk to the northeast and east,
Quepem taluk to the east and south, and the
Arabian Sea to the west.