Why was Bombay renamed to Mumbai?
It wasn’t really renamed: the two have been used alongside each other for much of the past four hundred years. “Bombay” is said to come from the Portuguese phrase “bom bahia” meaning “good bay”. The name Mumbai is ascribed to the local deity, Mumba, the patron goddess of the Koli fisherfolk, the oldest inhabitants of the area, and has been the preferred term in most of the local languages. In the mid-1990’s, an act of parliament was passed decreeing “Mumbai” to be the official name, though the “colonial” term still appears to be in wide use [7.5 million Google hits for Mumbai, 5.
Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई, IPA:/’mumbəi/ (help·info)), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, the most populous city of India, and by some measures the most populous city in the world with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006).[1] Mumbai is located on Salsette Island, off the west coast of Maharashtra. Along with its neighbouring suburbs, it forms the world’s sixth most populous metropolitan area with a population of about 25 million. The metro population ranking is projected to rise to 4th in the world by 2015 due to an annual growth rate of 2.2% [2]. The city has a deep natural harbour and the port handles over half of India’s passenger traffic and a significant amount of cargo.[3] Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India , and houses important financial institutions, such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the corporate headquarters of ma
