Mumbai

Sister cities

• Espoo
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History

Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands: Isle of Bombay, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli, and Old Woman's Island (also known as Little Colaba). Pleistocene sediments found along the coast near Kandivali suggest that the islands were inhabited since the South Asian Stone Age. In the 3rd century BCE, the islands formed part of the Maurya Empire, ruled by the emperor Ashoka. The islands were perhaps occupied by the Koli fishing community during the beginning of the Common Era. The Kanheri Caves in Borivali were excavated in the first century CE, and served as a centre of Buddhism in Western India. The Mahakali Caves in Andheri were cut out between the 1st century BCE and the 6th century CE. Greek geographer Ptolemy referred to the islands as Heptanesia (Ancient Greek: A cluster of seven islands) in 150 CE. Between the 2nd century BCE and 9th century CE, the islands came under the control of successive indigenous dynasties–Satavahanas, Western Satraps, Abhira, Vakataka, Kalachuris, Konkan Mauryas, Chalukyas, and Rashtrakutas, before being ruled by the Shilaharas from 810 to 1260 CE. Some of the oldest edifices in the city are the Jogeshwari Caves (between 520 and 525 CE), Elephanta Caves (between 6th to 7th century CE), Walkeshwar Temple (10th century CE), and Banganga Tank (12th century CE). King Bhima founded his kingdom in the region in the late 13th century CE and established his capital in Mahikawati (present day Mahim). The Pathare Prabhus, among the earliest known settlers of the city, came to Mahikawati from Saurashtra in Gujarat around 1298 CE. The Delhi Sultanate annexed the islands in 1347–48 CE and controlled it until 1407 CE. During this time, the islands were administered by the Muslim governors of Gujarat, appointed by…

Geography

Mumbai is spread over an area of , and is divided into two districts–Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban. The suburban district occupies and is divided into three tehsils–Andheri, Borivali, and Kurla. The city district-region located to the south is referred to as South Mumbai or "Island City", and occupies an area of . The Mumbai Metropolitan Region includes portions of Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts in addition to Greater Mumbai, and covers an area of . It lies at the mouth of the Ulhas River on the western coast of India, in the Konkan region. It shares the Salsette Island, with the Thane district. Navi Mumbai is located to the east of the Thane Creek, and Thane is situated towards the north of the Vasai Creek. Majority of the city lies just above the mean sea level, with elevations ranging from , and an average elevation of . Northern Mumbai consists of hilly terrain, with the highest point in the city at in the Powai–Kanheri range. The coastline is indented with creeks and bays, stretching from the Thane creek in the east to Madh Marve on the western front. The eastern coast of the Salsette Island is covered with mangrove swamps, while the western coast is mostly sandy and rocky. Soil cover in the city region is predominantly sandy. In the suburbs, the soil cover is largely alluvial and loamy. The underlying rock is black Deccan basalt, dating to the late Cretaceous and early Eocene eras. Mumbai sits on a seismically active zone with 23 fault lines. The area is a Seismic Zone III region, which means an earthquake of up to magnitude 6.5 on the Richter magnitude scale could occur. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Borivali National Park) is situated partly in the Mumbai suburban and Thane districts, and covers an area of . There are two major lakes…

Most-observed species

• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  23,389
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  21,212
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  17,614
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  16,768
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15,356
• Common Tailorbird

  Orthotomus sutorius (Pennant, 1769) · Aves
  14,487
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  14,477
• Asian Koel

  Eudynamys scolopaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,413

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2019-07-24
  25 km WSW of Shirgaon, India