Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital
of the Indian state of Maharashtra. With an estimated population
of about 13 million, the largest metropolis of India and one
of the most highly populated cities in the world. With a population
of 19 million inhabitants, Mumbai Metropolitan Area is also
the 5th most populous metropolitan area.
Mumbai is one of the world's top 10 trading centres in terms of global financial
flows. Mumbai is the capital of entertainment and business
in India, and is home to major financial institutions, such
as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange
(BSE), National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and The headquarters
of many Indian companies and many multinational companies.
The city is home to Bollywood, the largest film industry in
the world. Mumbai attracts migrants from all over India because
of the immense opportunities and the relatively high standard
of living.
Located off the west coast of India, Mumbai has a large
natural seaport. The city handles more than half of India's
passenger traffic and a significant amount of cargo. Mumbai
is also one of the few cities in the world that is a national
park, the National Park of Sanjay Gandhi, within its city
limits.
The name is an eponym Mumbai, etymologically derived from
Mumba or Maha-Amba-the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi
and Aai - mother in Marathi. The former name of Bombay had
its origins in the 16th century, when the Portuguese arrived
in the region and called the place with different names, which
could finally take the written form Bombaim, always present
in the common use Portuguese. After winning the British possession
in the 17th century, it was anglicised to Bombay when he was
known as Mumbai or Mambai Gujarati and Marathi-speakers, and
as Bambai in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. However, Gujarati and
Marathi-speakers commonly used "Bombay" when speaking
in English. The name was formally changed its pronunciation
Marathi in Mumbai in 1995. "Mumbai" written in Marathi,the
Taj Mahal Palace&Tower. A broad explanation of the origin
of the traditional English name Bombay holds that it would
be derived from the Portuguese name mean good bay. This is
based on the fact that I (masc.) is the Portuguese for good,
while the word "English Bay is similar to the Portuguese
baía (fem., spellers former bahia). The Portuguese
normal rendering of the bay would have been good boa bahia
rather than bom bahia grammatically incorrect. However, it
is possible to find form baim (masc.) for the small bay in
sixteen century Portuguese.
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