Principal Cities
The largest city of India as well as its premier port is Mumbai, which at the 2001 census had a population of 11.9 million in the city itself and 16.4 million in the metropolitan area. Eighteen cities had populations of more than 1 million in 1991. These include, in descending order of size, the largest metropolitan areas of India: Kolkata (13.2 million), eastern India’s chief commercial, financial, and manufacturing center; Delhi (12.8 million), a historical city as well as a major transportation, commercial, and industrial center; and Chennai (6.42 million) one of India’s principal ports. Other important cities with more than 1 million people are Bangalore, rapidly growing as a center of high-technology industry; HyderÄbÄd, NÄgpur, Lucknow, and Jaipur, all centers of government and service industries; and KÄnpur, AhmadÄbÄd, Pune, and Surat, which are known for their industrial economies.
