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Founded as a project of the Sri Aurobindo Society with UNESCO support. The inauguration on 28 February 1968 was attended by delegates from 124 nations, who placed earth from their homelands in an urn. The Charter, handwritten in French by the Mother, was broadcast live by All India Radio in 16 languages. A further UNESCO endorsement followed in 1970. After the Mother's death in 1973, disputes between the Society and residents led the Government of India to take over management under the Auroville Emergency Provisions Act, 1980.
An experimental township on about 20 sq km of what was desertified plateau, roughly 10 km north of Pondicherry and 5 km from the coast. Around 3,300 residents from about 60 nationalities. Four zones - Residential, Industrial, Cultural and International - radiate from the central Peace Area, surrounded by a Green Belt of farms, forests, a botanical garden and a seed bank. Roger Anger's Galaxy Plan projects 50,000 residents.