Marathi Mumbai city, capital of Maharashtra state, India, and the country's financial and commercial centre and principal port on the Arabian Sea. It is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. Bombay is located on a site of ancient settlement and took its name from the local goddess Mumba—a form of Parvati, the consort of Siva (Shiva), one of the principal gods of Hinduism—whose temple once stood in what is now the southeastern section of thecity.

Bombay has long been the centre of India's cotton-textile industry, but its other manufacturing industries are now well-diversified and its commercial and financial institutions strong and vigorous. It suffers, however, from the chronic illsof most large, expanding industrial cities—air and water pollution, slums, and overcrowding. Expansion of Bombay is confined by its island location, and the city, which has one of the highest population densities in the world, seems ready to burst at its seams.