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(Marathi: मुंबई Mumbaī), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra. At 18°58′N 72°49′E, the city is located on Salsette Island, off the west coast of Maharashtra.
The city enjoys tropical climate with two main seasons. Humid season, between March and October, shows high humidity at temperatures over 30°C. Monsoon rains go down between June to September, bringing most of the city's annual rainfall of 2,200 mm. Highest rainfall recorded in a single day was 944 mm on 2005-07-26. Dry season, between November and February, is characterized by moderate levels of humidity and temperately warm to cool weather. Mumbai's mean monthly temperature in mid summer (May) is 33° C, in mid winter (January) it drops to 19° C. Highest temperature ever recorded in Mumbai is 43.3 °C, lowest is 7.4 °C.
With an estimated population of about 18 million within a total area of 468 km², Mumbai is the most populous city of India, and possibly also the most populous city in the world, with a density of about 29,000 persons per square kilometre. The rate of 811 females to every 1,000 males is lower than the national average. Literacy rate of the city is 86%, higher than the national average. Including the suburbs, the metropolitan area has a population of about 25 million.
Because of its enormous pressure of population, Mumbai is India's most expensive city to find a place to sleep, with apartment and office rents being the highest in the world.
According to Wikipedia and Business Week, around 43% of the population live in shantytowns and slums. For a metropolis of that size, Mumbai has a rather moderate crime rate. 27,577 incidents of crime in 2004 were recorded in 2004, an 11% decrease from 30,991 in 2001.
68% of the population are of Hindu religion, 17% are Muslims, Christians and Jains are 4% each, the rest are Parsis, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews and atheists. Ethnic groups are Marathi (42%), Gujarati (18%), North Indian (21%), Kannadigas (5%), Tamil (3%), Sindhis (3%), and others.
Marathi, the official language of the state of Maharashtra, and Bambaiya - a blend of Marathi, Hindi, Indian English and some newly invented words - are widely spoken in Mumbai. Other languages are Gujarati, Hindi and English, which is extensively used as the principal language of the city's white collar workforce.
The traditional name Bombay apparently goes back to 16th century Portuguese "bom baía" (old spelling: "bom bahia"). But "good bay" in Portuguese would have been "bahia boa" rather than grammatically incorrectly "bom bahia", so the name seems to have other roots. In Hindi, the place is called "Bambai", Urdu, and Persian languages call it "Mumbai", "Mambai" in Marathi and Gujarati. With the British gaining the power in the 17th century, the name was turned into Bombay. That name was officially changed to "Mumbai" in 1995.
Mumbai originally was an archipelago of seven islands, inhabited since the Stone Age. Evidence of human habitation dates back at least to 250 BC, when the place was known as Heptanesia - ancient Greek for "Cluster of Seven Islands" (Ptolemy). At that time, the islands formed part of the Maurya Empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor, Aşoka. Hindu rulers governed the islands from the early centuries of our time until 1343, when the kingdom of Gujarat annexed the area. The ancient sculptures of Elephanta Caves date from the early Hindu era.
Portuguese ruled the islands from 1534 to 1661 when the islands were given to Charles II of England as a dowry for his Portuguese bride Catherine de Braganza. In 1668, British government leased the islands to the British East India Company - for £10 per year. The company made the favourably deep natural harbour at the east coast into the first port for the Indian sub-continent. Urban population rapidly increased from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 in 1675.
In the 19th century, a large civil engineering project reshaped the archipelago into a single island. The project was completed by 1845. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the city boomed as the world's most important cotton trading market. In 1869, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 made Bombay one of the largest seaports on the Arabian Sea.
In 1906, the number of inhabitants exceeded one million, making Bombay the second largest city in India after Calcutta. Maharashtra state was formed on May 1, 1960 with Bombay as its capital.
Since the 1980s, local economy has diversified from mainly port, shipping industry and textile industry to engineering, diamond-polishing, healthcare and information technology. State and federal government is a major employer , another one is entertainment industry. Most of India's major publishing houses, major television and satellite networks have their headquarters in Mumbai. Mumbai is also the centre of India's film and television industry, widely known as Bollywood. In terms of number of tickets sold, Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world.
Public transport is plays an import role in Mumbai to take people to and from their working places. Buses are used for commuting short to medium distances. The BEST fleet of buses consists of single-decker and double-decker, some of them air-conditioned. For long distance commuting, train fares are more economical.
In 1853, India's first passenger railway line was established, connecting Bombay to the town of Thane. Mumbai Suburban Railway is made up of three separate networks covering the city in north-south direction. Western Railway covers the western parts of the city, while Central Railway covers most of the central and northeast areas. With a total one-way length of around 125 km, these lines also include the suburban areas. Harbour Line is a division of Central Railway, covering a distance of 54 km along the south-eastern section of the city, near the docks. Mumbai is well connected by Indian Railways to most parts of India.
In the city, there is a good density of black and yellow metered taxis, taking up three to four passengers, luggage included. Auto rickshaws for two to three passengers are allowed to operate in suburban areas only.
The city has a well protected deep natural harbour, handling more than half of India's passenger traffic and a significant amount of cargo. Ferry boats give cheap access to islands and beaches in the area.
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the busiest airport in India.
Most of the city's electricity is hydroelectric and nuclear based. Cell phone coverage is extensive, and the main service providers are Hutch, Airtel, BPL group, Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom. Broadband internet penetration is rapidly increasing, with Tata and state owned MTNL as the leading service providers.
With Sanjay Gandhi National Park, densely populated Mumbai has a sizeable area of protected nature within its metropolitan limits. Salsette Island’s eastern coastline is covered with mangrove swamps, rich in biodiversity. On the city’s west coast, there is shallow and sandy Juhu Beach.
Mumbai culture
Mumbai is the birthplace and centre of Indian cinema, and the country's thriving film industry. The city has a large number of well equipped, even luxurious cinemas. The studios of Bollywood, initially a nickname blending of "Bombay" and "Hollywood", are located in the Mumbai area.
Contemporary art is shown in private commercial galleries as well as in government funded art galleries such as The National Gallery of Modern Art.
Media
Mumbai is home to India's oldest newspaper, Bombay Samachar, published in Gujarati and English since 1822. Popular English newspapers published in Mumbai include the Times of India, Mid-day, DNA, Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror and Indian Express. Marathi newspapers include Loksatta, Sakaal and Maharashtra Times.
Of nine radio stations in Mumbai, six are broadcasting on the FM band, and three All India Radio stations are broadcasting on AM.
TV: Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster, provides two free terrestrial channels, and there are three main cable networks. Zee Marathi, DD Sahyadri, Zee TV, Star plus and news channels are popular. Due to high installation costs, satellite television (DTH) has not reached broad acceptance yet. To date, Mumbai households receive over a hundred television channels via cable.
Research
Two of India's most important research institutions are located in Mumbai: the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
Education
Well organised under a 10+2+3 plan, Indian students complete ten years at school, followed by two years in Junior College, where they choose from one of three streams: Arts, Commerce or Science. These two years are followed by either a general degree course in a chosen field of study, or a professional degree course, such as law, engineering, medicine. Most colleges in the city are affiliated to the University of Mumbai, one of the largest universities in the world in terms of graduation rate. The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, one of India's premier engineering schools, and the SNDT Women's University are the other universities in Mumbai. For university degrees in Fine Art and Design, the J.J.School of Art in Mumbai is among the most prominent ones in India.