What it's known for
Mumbai is India's financial, commercial and entertainment capital. It is the centre of Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry.
Mumbai
City in IndiaMumbai sits on a narrow peninsula of Salsette Island on the Konkan coast of western India, with the Arabian Sea to the west. It is the capital of the state of Maharashtra.
Fun facts
- Mumbai was once seven separate islands; from 1782 the British began joining them, starting with a causeway called the Hornby Vellard.
- The name Mumbai comes from Mumbadevi, the city's patron goddess, together with 'aai', the Marathi word for mother.
- The Gateway of India, finished in 1924 on the waterfront, marks the landing of King George V in 1911, and the last British troops left India through it in 1948.
Finding it on the globe
Trace India's west coast up from the southern tip: Mumbai is on the Arabian Sea about three-quarters of the way up, before the coast turns west toward Gujarat.
Easy to mix up
Until 1995 the city's English name was Bombay. It is not India's capital: that is New Delhi, about 1,150 km to the north-northeast.
Sources: Wikipedia: Mumbai, Wikipedia: Gateway of India