Mumbai, India Population

Mumbai is a principal city in India and the center of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the sixth more populated metropolitan area in the world with over 20 million people. Since 2015, the population of Mumbai has grown by over a million people, a 1.1% annual increase. This consists of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the second most populated city in all of India. Within the city, Mumbai has a population of 12.6 million people. This makes it the most populous city in India for its city proper population.

Mumbai sits on the Konkan coast of India and the city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Mumbai is the capital days of Maharashtra and is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India. It generates 6.16% of India’s GPD and accounts for 70% of maritime trade and capital transactions to India’s economy, and 25% of the country’s industrial output.

A name change to cast aside British Colonialism

The city has experience several name changes over its history. When the city was under colonial rule, it was called Bombay, an Anglicized version of a Portuguese name. The city was also known by several other names, including Mombayn, Bombay, Bombain, Bombaym, Monbaym, Mombaim, Mombaym, Bambaye, Bombaiim, Bombeye, Boon Bay, and Bon Bahia.

The city’s name changed in 1995 from Bombay to Mumbai when the political party Shiv Sena came into power. The name Bombai was seen as a remnant of British colonialism and the political party wanted to the city’s name to reflect its Maratha heritage. This was part of a larger wave that was happening across India where cities were looking to rid themselves of the names given to them during the time of British colonialism.

A densely populated metropolitan area

Mumbai is only 603 square kilometers. This combined with the city’s generous population means that Mumbai has a very high population density of approximately 73,000 people per square mile. This makes Mumbai one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Land is also at a premium in the city, which makes it difficult for residents to get access to affordable housing. This results in many residents in Mumbai living in cheap, cramped quarters that lead to long commutes on the city’s mass transit system.

Slums of Mumbai

Mumbai struggles with a serious poverty issues that affects almost half the city’s population. This estimated 41% of the population lives in poverty-stricken slums that rarely have access to clean water, electricity, and little to no access to public transportation. While the official number of people living in Mumbai’s slums can be difficult to calculate due to surveys, it’s estimated that about 9 million people in these situations. Due to the living situations in these slums, the population density is far greater than the rest of the city and is an astounding 869,565 people per square mile. These slums are also home to over 5,000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories.

A melting pot with a skewed sex ratio

Due to all the migrants that relocate to the city for employment opportunities, Mumbai—like most metropolitan areas of India—has impressive cultural diversity and there are 16 major languages spoken in the city. The Marathi and Gujarati languages account for 42% and 19% of the languages spoken throughout the city. While 2 out of 3 residents identify as Hindu, there are mixed religions throughout the city.

Unfortunately, the city has a skewed sex ratio and continues to worsen. Out of 24 municipal wards, 20 of them saw a decline in child sex ratios in the pas ten years. For every 1,000 boys born to mothers in the city, there were only 899 girls. This heavy imbalance is visible in Mumbai and is blamed of sex-selective abortions.