Mumbai

Mumbai (Marathi: ????? ) (pronounced {{IPA|/mum?a?i/}} in Marathi, and {{IPA|/mʊm'baɪ/}} in English), formerly known as Bombay ({{IPA2|bɒm'beɪ}}), is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 13 million.{{ref|population}} Mumbai is located on Salsette Island off the west coast of India. Along with the neighbouring towns, it forms one of the world's most populous metropolitan areas, with an extended population of 17 million. The city, which has a deep natural harbour, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic.

Demographics

The population of Mumbai is over 17 million residents at a density of 45,662 persons per square kilometre. There are 811 females to every 1,000 males. This relatively low ratio exists because many working males in the city leave their families in the rural areas where they hail from. The total literacy rate is 77%, which is higher than the national average. Out of this figure 82% of adult males and 71.6% of adult females are literate. Hindus comprise 68% of the population, Muslim 17%, Christian 4% and Buddhist 4%. The remaining are followers of Parsi, Jain, Sikh and Jewish religions and atheist ideology{{ref|demographics}}.

Related Topics:
Square kilometre - Literacy rate - Hindu - Muslim - Christian - Buddhist - Parsi - Jain - Sikh - Jewish - Atheist

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For a city of its size, Mumbai has a moderate crime rate. Mumbai recorded 27,577 incidents of crime in 2004, which is down 11% from 30,991 in 2001. The city's main jail is the Arthur Road Jail{{ref|crime}}. According to a report in the August 12 edition of BusinessWeek, around 45-48% of the population lives in shanty towns and slums.

Related Topics:
Crime - 2001 - Jail - Arthur Road Jail - August 12

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Mumbai has a large polyglot population but the most common language spoken on the city streets is a colloquial form of Hindi, known as Bambaiya Hindi, which is a blend of Hindi, Marathi, Indian English and a few invented colloquial words. Marathi is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. English is also extensively spoken and is the principal language used by the city's white collar workforce. Other languages spoken in Mumbai include Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Konkani, Nepali and Kannada.

Related Topics:
Polyglot - Hindi - Bambaiya Hindi - Marathi - Indian English - Maharashtra - White collar - Gujarati - Bengali - Tamil - Urdu - Malayalam - Telugu - Punjabi - Sindhi - Konkani - Nepali - Kannada

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See also: Growth of Mumbai, Mumbai statistics

Related Topics:
Growth of Mumbai - Mumbai statistics

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