All about Mumbai

Mumbai or Bombay (city), city in western India, capital of Mahārāshtra State and premier port of India, located on the Arabian Sea.

Mumbai proper occupies a low-lying area that once consisted of seven islands separated from each other only during high tide.

Dredging and reclamation projects, as well as the construction of breakwaters and causeways, have linked the islands into a contiguous stretch of land known as Bombay Island.

The city is framed to the east on the mainland by the towering Western Ghats mountain range.

Immediately to the north of Bombay Island is Salsette Island.

Mumbai, known as Bombay until its name was officially changed in 1995, is the leading financial center of India as well as a major national commercial, transportation, and manufacturing hub.

It has one of the world’s largest harbors: a broad, sheltered bay between the city and the mainland.

Mumbai is located south of the Tropic of Cancer but north of the equator and has small seasonal temperature fluctuations.

In January the average low temperature is 19° C (67° F) and the average high temperature is 30° C (85° F); in May the average low temperature is 27° C (81° F) and the average high temperature is 33° C (92° F).

Mumbai’s temperatures have reached as high as about 42° C (about 108° F) and as low as about 7° C (about 45° F).

The mean annual temperature is 27.5 °C (81.5 °F).

The average annual rainfall is 2,170 mm (85 in).

Because of the southwest monsoon winds, more than 95 percent of the annual rainfall occurs during the four-month period of June through September.

Mumbai also has high humidity, with an annual average of 87 percent.

The name Mumbai was developed in reference to a temple of the Hindu goddess Mumba, also known as Parvati, which once stood in the southeastern part of the city.

Mumbai’s former name, Bombay, comes from the Portuguese Bom Bahia, meaning “Fair Bay.”

Both names, which are somewhat similar, have been used for centuries: Bombay was used by the Europeans who first took control of the area in the 1500s and Mumbai by the native Mahārāstrians.

(1) MUMBAI AND IT'S METROPOLETAN AREA
(2) POPULATION
(3) EDUCATION AND CULTURE
(4) ECONOMY
(5) HISTORY

All about Kolkata

Kolkata or Calcutta, city in eastern India and capital of West Bengal State, situated on the banks of the Hugli (Hooghly) River (a tributary of the Ganges River).

( Hugli River )
Kolkata lies about 100 km (about 60 mi) north of the Bay of Bengal and about 70 km (about 45 mi) west of Bangladesh.

It is the hub of India’s second most populous metropolitan area (after Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay) and is the chief commercial, financial, and manufacturing center of eastern India.

Kolkata was founded as a trading post of the English East India Company in the late 1600s.
It was then known as Calcutta, an Anglicized form of the name of a local village, Kalikata.
It served as the capital of British India from 1773 through 1911.

During the British era, administrative offices and a British-style university, the University of Calcutta, were established.

Jute mills and other industries along the Hugli River also contributed to the city's growth and eventually gave rise to major urban development.

Kolkata is located only about 1° south of the tropic of Cancer, close to sea level in a formerly swampy area.

It lies in a monsoon region, with most of its average annual rainfall of 1625 mm (64 in) falling from June through September.

Though winters are mild, with an average January temperature of 19° C (67° F), the temperature sometimes dips to 10° C (50° F).

From March through September, Kolkata is hot and humid, with an average July temperature of 29° C (85° F); in the months of May and June the temperature may rise as high as 38° C (100° F).

(1) KOLKATA AND IT'S METROPOLETAN AREA
(2) ECONOMY
(3) POPULATION
(4) EDUCATION AND CULTURE
(5) HISTORY